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THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE 

General Editor, C. H. Herford, Litt.D., University oj Manchester 



KING LEAR 



EDITED BY 

D. NICHOL SMITH, M.A. 

EDINBURGH 
REVISED BY 

ERNEST BERNBAUM 

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE 
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D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY 

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THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE 

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GENERAL PREFACE 

In this edition of Shakespeare an attempt is made 
to present the greater plays of the dramatist in their 
literary aspect, and not merely as material for the study 
of philology or grammar. Criticism purely verbal and 
textual has only been included to such an extent as 
may serve to help the student in the appreciation of 
the essential poetry. Questions of date and literary 
history have been fully dealt with in the Introductions, 
but the larger space has been devoted to the interpre- 
tative rather than the matter-of-fact order of scholar- 
ship. Esthetic judgments are never final, but the 
Editors have attempted to suggest points of view from 
which the analysis of dramatic motive and dramatic 
character may be profitably undertaken. In the Notes 
likewise, while it is hoped that all unfamiliar expressions 
and allusions have been adequately explained, yet it 
has been thought even more important to consider the 
dramatic value of each scene, and the part which it 
plays in relation to the whole. These general princi- 
ples are common to the whole series; in detail each 
Editor is alone responsible for the play or plays that 
have been intrusted to him. 

Every volume of the series has been provided with a 
Glossary, an Essay upon Metre, and an Index ; and 
Appendices have been added upon points of special 
interest which could not conveniently be treated in the 
Introduction or the Notes. The text is based by the 
several Editors on that of the Globe edition. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction v 

Dramatis Person^e xxii 

King Lear 1 

Notes 133 

Appendix A — The Sources of the Plot . . . 183 

Appendix B — Metre 194 

Glossary 203 

Index of Words o . . 213 

General Index » o , » , 217 



INTRODUCTION 



1. LITERARY HISTORY OF THE PLAY 

Two quarto editions of King Lear bear the date 1608. Their 
relationship and order of publication were long doubtful, but it is 
now certain that the earlier is that which bears the following title- 
page: 

M. William Shak-speare : i His | True Chronicle Historie of the 
life and | death of King Lear and his three | Daughters. | With the 
vnfortunate life of Edgar, sonne \ and heire to the Earle of Gloster, 
and his | sullen and assumed humor of | Tom of Bedlam : | As it 
was played before the Kings Maiestie at Whitehall vpon \ S. Stephans 
night in Christmas Hollidayes. \ By his Maiesties seruants playing 
vsually at the Gloabe | on the Bancke-side, | London. | Printed for 
Nathaniel Butter, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls \ Church- 
yard at the signe of the Pide Bull neere | S*- Austins Gate. 1608. 

This edition was, as usual, authorized neither by Shakespeare nor 
by the theatrical company for which he wrote. Probably it was 
based upon a surreptitious stenographic report of a performance; 
and it is to be regarded as a carelessly printed issue of King Lear in 
approximately the form in which the play was at first acted. 

The Second Quarto has the same title, except that it omits the 
words from "and are to be sold" to "St. Austins Gate." The date 
1608 is fraudulent, for this edition was not issued until 1619. It 
was based upon the First Quarto, many of the faults of which it 
reproduced and aggravated; and it is useless in determining the 
true text of King Lear.^ 

The next edition of the play was that in the Folio of 1623. It 
is the most valuable, for it appears to have been taken from an 
acting copy preserved at the theatre. The independent origin of 

1 The relationship of the Quartos was first established by the Cambridge 
editors, though the editor of King Lear . . . collated with the old and modem 
editions, published in 1770, had already concluded that the so-called Pide 
Bull edition was the first. See also Mr. P. A. Daniel's introduction to the 
facsimile reprints of the two Quartos (1885). Mr. A. W. Pollard and 
Mr. W. W. Greg have shown that the Second Quarto was issued in 1619. 
Another Quarto, a careless reprint of the second, was "printed by Jane Bell" 
in 1655. 



vi INTRODUCTION 

the Folio and Quarto texts gives rise to marked divergences. Apart 
from verbal variations, there is considerable diflFerence in the length 
of the versions. The Quartos contain about three hundred lines 
that are not given in the Folio, and on the other hand about a 
hundred and ten lines in the Folio are omitted in the Quartos.^ 
These omissions cannot definitely be explained ; but it is probable 
that the divergences are due to the actors and printers. The First 
Quarto may follow a slightly condensed copy used in the perform- 
ance at court in 1606, while the Folio gives the more abridged acting 
copy of the theatre. The bibliographical difficulties are further 
complicated by the fact that, though the two editions are based on 
different texts, the Folio reproduces some of the errors of the 
Quartos. The explanation of this would seem to be that the printer 
of the Folio did not work directly on the acting copy, but employed 
an edition of the First Quarto that had been corrected roughly in 
accordance with the manuscript. The modern text is considerably 
longer than that of the original editions by the inclusion of all the 
passages that occur only in one or the other of them. On the 
assumption that Shakespeare took no further care of the play after 
he had given it to the actors, the King Lear which we now have is 
a nearer approach to what it was when it left his hands. 

King Lear is one of the Shakespearean plays which were mangled 
at the Restoration. It appears to have been acted "as Shakespeare 
wrote it" between 1662 and 1665, and again in 1671 or 1672,^ but 
it was more popular in the adapted version of Nahum Tate, which 
was produced and published in 1681.^ Tate considered the play 
"a heap of jewels, unstrung and unpolished," and he set himself to 
give it what Restoration taste demanded. '"Twas my good for- 
tune," he says, "to light on one expedient to rectify what was want- 
ing in the regularity and probability of the tale, which was to run 
through the whole a Love betwixt Edgar and Cordelia, that never 
changed word with each other in the original. This renders Cor- 
delia's indifference and her father's passion in the first scene prob- 

1 The chief passages omitted in the Quartos are : i. 1. 41-46 ; i. 2. 118-124, 
181-187; i. 4. 345-356; ii. 4. 46-55, 142-147; iii. 1. 22-29; iii. 2. 80-95; 
iii. 6. 13-15 ; iv. 1. 6-9 ; iv. 6. 169-174. The chief passages omitted in the 
Folios are: i. 2. 156-163; i. 3. 16-20; i. 4. 154-169; ii. 2. 148-152; iii. 
1. 7-15, 30-42; iii, 6. 18-58, 103-122; iii. 7. 99-107; iv. 2. 31-50, 53-59, 
62-69 ; iv. 3. (the whole scene) ; iv. 7. 85-97 ; v. 3. 204-221. It is sometimes 
stated erroneously that only about fifty lines are omitted in the Quartos, 
and about two hundred and twenty in the Folios. 

* See Downes, Roscius Anglicanus (ed. Davies, 1789), pp. 36 and 43. 

' The History of King Lear. Acted at the Duke's Theatre. Reviv'd with 
Alterations. By N. Tate. London, 1681. Reprinted 1771. 



INTRODUCTION vii 

able. It likewise gives countenance to Edgar's disguise, making 
that a generous design that was before a poor shift to save his life. 
The distress of the story is evidently heightened by it; and it 
particularly gave occasion of a new scene or two, of more success 
(perhaps) than merit. This method necessarily threw me on mak- 
ing the tale conclude in a success to the innocent distrest Persons. 
. . . Yet I was wracked with no small fears for so bold a change, 
till I found it well received by my audience." 

The love-making and betrothal of Edgar and Cordelia, the res- 
toration of Lear to his kingdom, the enforced moral that "truth and 
virtue shall at last succeed," the interpolated scenes, and the entire 
omission of the Fool, make this version a perfect botch of the original. 
But it held the stage unchallenged till the time of Garrick, and its 
tinkerings were not totally discarded until well on in the nineteenth 
century. Garrick's version, which was produced in 1756, was 
generally accepted for about fifty years.^ With all his enthusiasm 
for Shakespeare, Garrick showed little regard for the plays as 
Shakespeare left them, and of none did he represent a more garbled 
version than of King Lear. It may not unfitly be described as an 
adaptation of Tate's. He restored certain passages and omitted 
many of Tate's additions, but he retained the love scenes and the 
happy ending, and after serious consideration decided that he could 
not include the Fool. The version that Colman produced in 1768 
was a decided improvement. He endeavored in it, he says, "to 
purge the tragedy of Lear of the alloy of Tate, which has so long 
been suflFered to debase it." He had the taste to recognize that the 
love scenes between Edgar and Cordelia were entirely out of place, 
and that, far from heightening the distress of the story, as Tate 
had asserted, they diffused a languor over all the scenes from which 
Lear is absent. But he did not condemn Tate entirely. "To 
reconcile," he says, "the catastrophe of Tate to the original story 
was the first grand object which I proposed to myself in this altera- 
tion." He thus expelled Tate from the first four acts, but retained 
him in the fifth ; but, like Tate and Garrick, he would have none of 
the Fool, being "convinced that such a character in a tragedy would 
not be endured on the modern stage." Colman's version, however, 
was not popular because of the absence of the love scenes, and 
Garrick's or Tate's kept possession of the stage .^ 

1 The version of 1756 was not printed, but it is presumably the same as that 
published by Bell in 1772 or 1773. 

2 See Genest, English Stage, iv. 475; v. 191-203; viii. 131. Another 
version was produced by Kemble in 1809, but it was worse than Garrick's, for 
Kemble restored passages from Tate that Garrick had omitted. 



viii INTRODUCTION 

Throughout the eighteenth century the happy ending, though 
invariably adopted by the actors, was a moot point of the critics. 
Addison condemned it and the "ridiculous doctrine" of poetical 
justice urged in its defense. "King Lear is an admirable tragedy," 
he says, "as Shakespeare wrote it; but as it is reformed according 
to the chimerical notion of poetical justice, in my humble opinion it 
has lost half its beauty." ^ Johnson was of the opposite opinion, 
and represents the prevailing taste of the time when he states with 
evident satisfaction that "Cordelia, from the time of Tate, has 
always retired with victory and felicity." 

The new school of Shakespearean critics at the beginning of the 
nineteenth century, and particularly Lamb and Hazlitt, induced 
Kean to abandon the inartistic conclusion that had been in vogue 
for over a hundred and forty years. In 1820 he had followed Tate's 
version, but he had declared that "the London audience have no 
notion what I can do until they see me over the dead body of 
Cordelia," and in 1823, in obedience to his dramatic instincts and 
"the suggestion of men of literary eminence from the time of 
Addison," he gave the last act as originally written by Shakespeare. 
But even Kean did not restore the true version in the rest of the 
play, for Tate's love scenes were retained and the Fool was still 
excluded. Not till Macready's performance of the play in 1838 was 
the Fool again permitted to appear. But even in making this restor- 
ation Macready had considerable misgivings. " My opinion of the 
introduction of the Fool," he wrote in his diary, "is that, like many 
such terrible contrasts in poetry and painting, in acting-representa- 
tion it will fail in effect; it will either weary, or annoy, or distract 
the spectator. I have no hope of it, and think that at the last we 
shall be obliged to dispense with it." Though he doubted the pro- 
priety of this part, he has the credit of restoring to the stage the 
true King Lear. 

2. THE DATE OF THE PLAY 

The date of King Lear is not definitely known ; but it is certain 
that the play was written between 1603 and 1606. The later limit 
is fixed by external evidence. The First Quarto was entered in the 
Stationers' Registers under the date November 26, 1607, as "A 
Booke called Master William Shakespeare his 'historye of Kinge 
Lear' as yt was played before the kinges maiestie at Whitehall vppon 
Sainct Stephens night at Christmas Last." The performance at 

1 Spectator, No. 40> 



INTRODUCTION ix 

court must therefore have taken place on St. Stephen's night 
(December 26), 1606. This is the only piece of external evidence 
that bears on the date of the play. 

But there is internal evidence to show that King Lear was not 
written before 1603. As the notes point out, there are several 
passages that prove Shakespeare's knowledge of Harsnet's Declara- 
tion of Egregious Popishe Impostures. The names of the devils 
mentioned . by Edgar when feigning madness are undoubtedly 
borrowed from this book,^ while certain other remarks made by him 
in his role of Tom of Bedlam point to a like indebtedness.^ Hars- 
net's book was entered in the Stationers' Registers on March 16, 
1603, and appeared later in the same year. 

Unfortunately this is the only evidence that is at all definite. 
It is highly probable that the play was written in 1606, though the 
arguments urged in support of a date nearer the end than the begin- 
ning of the period from 1603 to Christmas, 1606, are not conclusive. 
Some students would assign King Lear to 1605 because they sur- 
mise that the publication in that year of an old play on the same 
subject {The True Chronicle History of King Leir) was caused by 
the successful appearance of Shakespeare's version on the stage. 
Malone notes that in iii. 4. 189 Edgar says "I smell the blood of a 
British man," and he argues therefrom that this must have been 
written after James's proclamation as King of Great Britain on 
October 24, 1604. But it has been pointed out that as early as 
1603, even before James's arrival in London, the poet Daniel ad- 
dressed to him a Panegyrike Congratulatory, which has the lines : 

"Shake hands with union, O thou mightie state, 
Now thou art all Great Britain, and no more, 
No Scot, no English now, nor no debate." 

His argument, therefore, has little value. 

More weight attaches to the plea put forward by Mr. Aldis 
Wright, for, though it does not force acceptance, it strengthens the 
supposition of a late date. In the second scene of the first act 
there are references to "these late eclipses in the sun and moon." 
In October, 1605, there was a great eclipse of the sun following an 
eclipse of the moon in the previous month, and Mr. Wright argues 
that "it can scarcely be doubted that Shakespeare had in his mind 
the great eclipse, and that Lear was written while the recollection 
of it was still fresh, and while the ephemeral literature of the day 

1 See iii. 4. 120 ; iii. 6. 7, 31 ; and iv. 1. 62. 

2 See ii. 3. 20 ; iii. 4. 51 ; and iv. 1 . 54. 



X INTRODUCTION 

abounded with pamphlets foreboding the consequences that were 
to follow." ^ Similarly, he hazards the further plausible suggestion 
that the reference in the same scene to "machinations, hollo wness, 
treachery, and all ruinous disorders" may have been prompted by 
the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605. All this, however, is 
mere supposition. There were eclipses of the sun and moon in 1598 
and again in 1601,^ and it is not impossible that Shakespeare's words 
were suggested by a recollection of them. None the less, the trend 
of the arguments, though inconclusive in themselves, is to support 
the date 1606 ; and as King Lear was acted before James at Christ- 
mas, 1606, and as the plays represented at court were usually new 
plays, that date may be accepted.^ 



3. THE SOURCES OF THE PLOT 

The story of King Lear was familiar in various forms to the 
Elizabethans. From the twelfth to the sixteenth century it had 
been told again and again in chronicles and romances, both French 
and English.^ It is first found in the Historia Britonum of Geoffrey 
of Monmouth, written in Latin about 1135. Geoffrey attached an 
immemorially old folk tale about a father and three daughters to 
a mythical British king, to whom he gave the name of a Celtic sea- 
god, Leir. From Geoffrey the story passed into Wace's French 
poem. Brut (c. 1155), and thence into Layamon's Brut (c. 1200), 
where the story is first given in English. Thereafter it is told in the 
metrical chronicles of Robert of Gloucester (c. 1300), Robert Man- 
ning (c. 1338), and John Harding (c. 1450), and in the more detailed 
prose chronicles of Robert Fabyan (1516), John Rastell (The Past- 
time of the People, 1530), Richard Grafton (1568), and Raphael 
Holinshed (1577), while a similar story is given in Camden's Re- 
mains (1605). Two versions of it occur in translations of the Gesta 
Romanorum, the great mediaeval storehouse of legendary tales. 
And it found a poetical setting in Elizabethan literature in John 
Higgins's contribution to The Mirror for Magistrates (1574), in 
Warner's Albion's England (1586, ch. 14), and in Spenser's Faerie 

1 Preface to the Clarendon Press edition, p. xvi. 

2 See King Lear, ed. W. J. Craig (1901), p. xxiii. 

3 The metrical evidence affords little or no assistance. For a statement of 
the metrical characteristics, see Fleay's Shakespeare Manual, p. 136, and Prof. 
Ingram's paper on " Light and Weak Endings" in the Transactions of the New 
Shakspere Society, 1874, pt. ii. Cf. Table I in chapter iv of W. A. Neilson 
and A. H. Thorndike's The Facts about Shakespeare (1913). 

* See Wilfred Perrett, The Story of King Lear, Berlin, 1904. 



INTRODUCTION xi 

Queene (1590, Book ii, canto x). Including the early play entitled 
The True Chronicle History of King Leir, which appeared in 1605,^ 
there are extant at least eight Elizabethan versions of earlier date 
than the drama by which it has been immortalized. 

Of the contemporary versions Shakespeare may have known 
those in Holinshed's Chronicle, The Mirror for Magistrates, and the 
Faerie Queene,^ as well as the early play. 

Holinshed's Chronicle was the great source of Shakespeare's 
histories. Certain passages in some of them, e.g. Henry V and 
Henry VIII, are little more than versified renderings of Holinshed's 
prose. But the fact that it provided so much material for Shake- 
speare's other plays has led to overstatement of its influence on 
King Lear. In Holinshed's account Leir loves Cordeilla far above 
her two elder sisters, and intends her to succeed to his kingdom ; 
but, being displeased with her answer at the love-test, he determines 
that his land shall be divided after his death between Gonorilla 
and Regan (who so far were unmarried), .and that a half thereof 
shall immediately be assigned them, while to Cordeilla he reserves 
nothing. But in time the two dukes whom the two eldest daughters 
had married rise against Leir and deprive him of the government, 
assigning him a portion on which to live. The daughters, however, 
seem to think that w^hatever the father has is too much, and grad- 
ually curtail his retinue. Leir is constrained to flee the country and 
seek comfort of Cordeilla, who has married a prince of Gallia. In 
Gallia he is honored as if he were king of the whole country. Cor- 
deilla and her husband then raise a mighty army, cross over to 
Britain with Leir, and defeat the forces of Gonorilla and Regan. 
Leir is restored and rules for two years, and is succeeded by Cor- 
deilla. It will be seen that Holinshed's story, meager as it is, differs 
in many points from Shakespeare's. It was certainly not used as 
the basis of King Lear. Indeed there is absolutely nothing to prove 

1 There is entered in the Registers of the Stationers' Company, under the 
date May 14, 1594, The moste famous Chronicle historye of Leire kinge of 
England and his Three Daughters. No copy of this is known, but it is probably 
the same as The Tragecall historie of kinge Leir and his Three Daughters, which 
was entered on May 8, 1605, and appeared in the same year with the following 
title. The True Chronicle History of King Leir and his three Daughters, Gonorill, 
Ragan, and Cordelia. As it hath bene diuers and sundry times lately acted. 
This is reprinted in George Steevens' Six Old Plays (1779), vol. ii ; in W. C. 
Hazlitt's Shakespeare' s Library (1875), pt. ii, vol. ii ; by W. W. Greg for the 
Malone Society (1907) ; and by Sidney Lee in the Shakespeare Classics 
(1909). An abstract is given in Furness's Variorum Shakespeare. See R. A, 
Law's "The Date of King Lear" in the Publications of the Modern Language 
Association of America, vol. xxi. 

2 These three versions are reprinted in Appendix A. 



xii INTRODUCTION 

that Shakespeare consulted it, though the probability is, considering 
his use of other parts of the Chronicle, that he had read Holinshed's 
version. 

The story in The Mirror for Magistrates has more points of 
similarity. According to it, Leire intended "to guerdon most where 
favour most he found" (cf. i, 1, 53-54); and Cordell in her reply 
refers to the chance of bearing another more good-will, meaning a 
future husband (cf. i. 1. 103-104). Leire does not resign the gov- 
ernment at once, but is deprived of his crown and right by the 
husbands of Gonerell and Ragan, who promise him a guard of sixty 
knights. This number Gonerell reduces by half, whereupon Leire 
goes to Cornwall to stay with Ragan, who after a time takes away 
all his retinue but ten, then allows him but five, and finally but one. 
Another indignity he has to suffer is that "the meaner upstart 
courtiers think themselves his mates." And his daughters call him 
a "doting fool." As in Holinshed, Leire flees to France, returns 
with Cordell and an army which proves victorious, and is restored 
to his kingdom. But, generally, this account bears a much closer 
resemblance than Holinshed's to the story of King Lear. Some of 
the details of The Mirror for Magistrates are paralleled in Shake- 
speare's play.^ This, however, is a circumstance on which too great 
stress is apt to be laid, for similarity or even identity of idea does 
not prove indebtedness. The most striking point is Cordell's 
allusion in the love-test to her future husband. But it happens that 
llrCamden's Remains a similar story of the love-test is told of Ina, 
king of the West Saxons, and there the youngest daughter replies to 
her father "flatly, without flattery, that albeit she did love, honour, 
and reverence him, and so would whilst she lived, as much as nature 
and daughterly duty at the uttermost could expect, yet she did think 
that one day it would come to pass that she should affect another 
more fervently, meaning her husband, when she were married." 
Malone, who drew attention to this passage, thinks that Shakespeare 
had it in his thoughts rather than the lines in The Mirror for 
Magistrates, as Camden's book had recently been published, and 
as a portion near at hand "furnished him with a hint in Coriolanus.'^ 
No definite opinion can be advanced; but the effect is only to 
render Shakespeare's debt to The Mirror for Magistrates more 
doubtful. 

In one striking point Shakespeare is indebted to Spenser. In 

1 Perhaps the parallelisms are due to the intermediary of the early play, 
which resembles in several points the story in The Mirror for Magistrates, 
There would be less difficulty in showing the early dramatist's acquaintance 
with it than there is in showing Shakespeare's. 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

Holinshed's Chronicle the heroine's name is Cordeilla, in The Mirror 
for Magistrates it is Cordell, and in the early play it is Cordelia; 
in King Lear the name has the beautiful form first adopted in the 
Faerie Queene} The two great Elizabethans are alike also in their 
division of Lear's kingdom, for neither makes Lear reserve to him- 
self any share in the government, while in Holinshed and in The 
Mirror for Magistrates the two elder daughters are not given at once 
their full share, and wrest the supreme power by force of arms. 
Shakespeare is sometimes said to be indebted to the simile ^ in 
Spenser's account ; but this is a point that cannot be pressed. 

We are on surer ground in dealing with the early play, the anony- 
mous True Chronicle History of King Leir. The main incidents of 
this drama, and in particular some of its deviations from the usual 
story, have their counterpart in King Lear. In one of his snatches 
of song, Shakespeare's fool speaks of "That lord that counsell'd thee 
to give away thy land" (i. 4. 154-155). There is nothing in the rest 
of the play to explain the allusion ; but we find that in the old play 
the love-test is proposed by a courtier, Skalliger by name, and that 
Lear at once resigns his whole kingdom to Gonorill and Ragan. 
Another courtier, Perillus, who is entirely the early dramatist's 
own invention, is the prototype of Kent. He pleads for Cordelia, 
but in vain, and afterwards, with Kent's fidelity, attends in disguise 
on the old king. A messenger, and the miscarriage of letters, play 
an important part in the development of the plot. Again, in the 
pathetic scene in which Leir comes to recognize Cordelia, he kneels 
to her (cf. iv. 7. 59). These are some of the most striking points 
of similarity in the development of the two plays. But indebted- 
ness may be traced even in minor matters. We seem to catch an 
echo now and then of some of the statements and phrases of the old 
play. Thus : 

" I am as kind as is the pellican, 
That kils it selfe to save her young ones lives" 

reminds us of Lear's reference to his "pelican daughters" (iii. 4. 77). 
The allusion to Gonorill' s "young bones" — 

"poore soule, she breeds yong bones, 
And that is it makes her so tutchy sure ' ' — 

suggests ii. 4. 165, while the sentiment is the same as that expressed 
in ii. 4. 107-113. It is probable, too, that Perillus's description of 

1 Spenser once has the form "Cordeill," apparently shortened from Holin- 
shed's "Cordeilla." It would appear that the exigencies of metre suggested 
"Cordelia." Spenser was undoubtedly indebted to Holinshed for the story. 

2 See i. 4. 237. 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

his master as "the mirror of mild patience" had seme bearing on the 
finer phrase which Shakespeare puts in the mouth of Lear himself, 
"the pattern of all patience" (iii. 2. 37). There can be no doubt 
that Shakespeare knew this early play. In itself it is of little ac- 
count; and yet there are not wanting qualities which show that the 
story only awaited the master hand to touch it to finer issues. 

It is also certain that Sidney's Arcadia ^ is the source of the 
Gloucester story — the underplot that is interwoven with marvel- 
lous skill and is so striking a foil to the main theme. The prototypes 
of Gloucester and Edgar are the " Paphlagonian unkind king and his 
kind son," whose "pitiful state" is recounted in the second book of 
Sidney's pastoral romance. Though the story is reproduced in all 
its essentials, it has furnished Shakespeare with nothing but the 
bare facts of his underplot.^ 

But when all Shakespeare's borrowings are put together — even 
though account be taken of those matters in which his debt is very 
doubtful — how small a part do they form of King Lear! The inter- 
mingling of the Gloucester episode has entailed new incidents and 
changed the working out of the catastrophe. The presence of 
Edmund enhances the villainy of Goneril and Regan, and their 
adulterous love leads to their deaths. In the older versions their 
part was ended with the victory of Lear. Shakespeare alone has 
given a sad ending to the play ; and although, as we have seen, he 
incurred thereby the censure of eighteenth century critics and actors, 
it is the only ending that is artistically possible. That Lear should 
be restored and reign happily is fitting enough in the meager stories 
of Holinshed or the early dramatist, but the tragic intensity which 
Shakespeare could give the more easily by the addition of the 
Gloucester episode makes any other ending than his lame and inept. 
There is no borrowing in the feigned madness of Edgar, nor in the 
real madness of Lear — the central circumstance, the very essence 
of the play ; and the character of the Fool is Shakespeare's creation. 
In these points, as in all that gives the play its value, the only 
"source" is Shakespeare himself. In addition there is the whole 
setting, and in particular the storm which symbolizes the "great 

1 The passage from which Shakespeare borrowed is reprinted in Ap- 
pendix A. 

2 Some of the older critics, e.g. Johnson and Hazlitt, thought that the play 
was "founded upon an old ballad," A Lamentable Song of the Death of King 
Leare and his Three Daughters. But this is apparently of later date than 
Shakespeare's play. It was published, probably for the first time, in Richard 
Johnson's Golden Garlands of Princely Pleasures and Delicate Delights (1620), 
and has been reprinted in Wilfrid Perrett's The Story of King Lear (1904), 
pp. 125-142. 



INTRODUCTION xv 

commotion in the moral world" ; and there is the characterization, 
by which the shadows and puppets of the early stories are turned 
into flesh and blood. 

4. CRITICAL APPRECIATION 

The play of King Lear presents certain peculiarities in point of 
structure. It diverges considerably from the form of the Shake- 
spearean dramas with which it is generally associated — Hamlet, 
Othello, and Macbeth — and it is even more irregular than the first 
of these. It is unique in the importance of the opening scene. 
There is no introductory passage to explain or throw light on the 
story that is to be unfolded, or, as in Macbeth, to symbolize it. We 
are introduced straightway to the action on which the whole play 
depends. The first scene on this account has been stigmatized by 
Goethe as irrational ; but the structure of the play emphasizes the 
fact that the deeds which call the play into being are in themselves of 
little importance. King Lear recounts the consequences following 
inevitably on a rash and foolish act. Another arrangement of the 
opening scenes would have tended to give more prominence than 
the theme of the drama allowed to an act which is important only 
in so far as it is the occasion of others. 

The importance of the underplot is the most notable point in the 
structure of King Lear. Its bearing on the whole play seems 
almost to mark it out as a survival of the discarded parallelisms of 
the earlier comedies. But it has a purely artistic value, for it is 
added not in order to complicate the story, but to enforce its motive. 
It is in fact a triumphant vindication of the underplot, a character- 
istic of the romantic drama on which the formal classical critics 
looked askance. The Gloucester'story has had its full share of con- 
demnation by those who are prejudiced by recognized dramatic 
rules. Joseph Warton, for instance, singled out, as one of the 
"considerable imperfections" with which the play is chargeable, 
"the plot of Edmund against his brother, which distracts the atten- 
tion and destroys the unity of the fable." ^ His other observations 
on King Lear contain passages of wholehearted and eloquent praise, 
but on this point he was so blinded by the prevailing classicism of 
the eighteenth century as to fail to recognize that the underplot, 
far from distracting the attention, really adds to the intensity. 
Such objections have been answered once and for all in a memorable 

1 The Adventurer, No. 122, January 5, 1754, Warton's third and concluding 
paper of "Observations on King Lear." 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

passage by Schlegel. "The incorporation of the two stories has 
been censured as destructive of the unity of action. But whatever 
contributes to the intrigue of the denouement must always possess 
unity. And with what ingenuity and skill are the two main parts 
of the composition dovetailed into one another ! The pity felt 
by Gloucester for the fate of Lear becomes the means which enables 
his son Edmund to effect his complete destruction, and affords the 
outcast Edgar an opportunity of being the saviour of his father. 
f On the other hand, Edmund is active in the cause of Regan and 
Goneril, and the criminal passion which they both entertain for 
him induces them to execute justice on each other and on themselves. 
The laws of the drama have therefore been sufficiently complied 
with ; but that is the least. It is the very combination which con- 
stitutes the sublime beauty of the work. The two cases resemble 
each other in the main : an infatuated father is blind towards his 
well-disposed child, and t^elinnatural children, whom he prefers, 
requite him by the ruin of all his happiness. But all the circum- 
stances are so different that these stories, while they each make a 
correspondent impression on the heart, form a complete contrast for 
the imagination. Were Lear alone to suffer from his daughters, 
the impression would be limited to the powerful compassion felt 
by us for his private misfortune. But two such unheard-of examples 
taking place at the same time have the appearance of a great com- 
motion in the moral world." ^ The story of the victim of his own 
misdeeds is so skillfully interwoven with the story of the victim 
of his indiscretions, and is brought into so suggestive opposition, 
that the effect of each is more impressive. The Gloucester story in 
itself does not offer any striking chance of successful dramatic treat- 
ment, and in respect to the feigned madness of Edgar it rather 
lends itself to comedy, but attains a tragic power by its association 
with the story of Lear. On the other hand, the main theme is 
raised by this conjunction above a purely personal matter, and we 
are the more readily brought to think of Lear, not as the man, but 
as the victim of filial ingratitude. 

Despite these apparently discordant elements. King Lear has 
complete unity of spirit. But in achieving this unity the art of 
Shakespeare has nowhere triumphed more completely than in the 
case of the Fool. In less skillful hands his presence would have 
been inimical to the pity and terror of the tragedy. We have seen 
how actors, for a period of over a hundred and fifty years, from the 

1 A. W. Schlegel, Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature (English trans- 
lation, 1879, p. 412). 



INTRODUCTION . xvii 

days of Tate to Macready, banislied the Fool from the stage because 
of their failure to recognize the importance of his part. Even in re- 
storing him Macready did not do him justice, for he regarded him as 
a mere youth, and accordingly intrusted the part to an actress. The 
Fool's remarks are those of a man of full and rich experience of life. 
He is not a clown like Othello's servant, introduced merely for the 
sake of variety. He bears a much closer resemblance to the Fools 
of the later comedies, to Touchstone in As You Like It and Feste 
in Twelfth Night. Like Touchstone, " he uses his folly like a stalking- 
horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit." At 
first there is a sharpness in his taunts, for he hopes thereby, with the 
frankness that is the privilege of his position, to awaken the king 
to a knowledge of what he has done. Afterward, when the worst 
has come to the worst, his wit has the gentler aim of relieving Lear's 
anguish. He no longer "teaches" Lear, but "labours to outjest 
his heart-struck injuries." He seems to give expression to the 
thought lurking deep in Lear's mind, as is shown by the readiness 
with which Lear catches at everything he says, or to voice the 
counsels of discretion. And he finally disappears from the play 
when Lear is mad. The Fool is, in fact, Lear's familiar spirit. 
He is Lear's only companion in the fateful step of going out into the 
night and braving the storm. Even then, as if in astonishment 
that his sorrows had not destroyed all his regard for others, Lear 
says, "I have one part in my heart that's sorry yet for thee." How, 
then, may it be asked, can the Fool possibly be omitted from King 
Lear? 

Apart from this consideration, the Fool has an important function 
in the drama. The eighteenth century actors unconsciously testified 
to this, for when they banished the Fool as "a character not to be 
endured on the modern stage," they with one exception — and 
success did not attend this efifort — made good the want by maw- 
kish love scenes. These they preferred to a role that was regarded 
only as burlesque. But the artful prattle of the Fool does more 
than give variety and relax the strain on one's feelings. It makes 
Lear's lot endurable to us, but at the same time it gives us a keener 
sense of its sadness. The persistent reminders of Lear's folly, the 
recurring presentment of ideas in a new and stronger light, the 
caustic wit hidden in a seemingly casual remark, all bring home 
more forcibly the pity of Lear's plight. In a word, the Fool in- 
tensifies the pathos by relieving it.^ 

1 In this connection it is well to record the opinion of Shelley, expressed in 
his Defence of Poetry : "The modern practice of blending comedy with tragedy, 



xviii ' INTRODUCTION 

The character of Lear is distinct from those of most of Shake- 
speare's heroes in that it is not revealed gradually. He is described 
fully in the very first scene. He has had a successful reign, but he 
is not a strong man. He is headstrong and rash, and old age has 
brought "unruly waywardness" and vanity. The play as a whole 
deals with the effects produced upon this passionate character by 
a foolish act for which he alone is responsible. The story is strictly 
that of a British king who began to rule "in the year of the world 
3105, at what time Joas reigned in Juda." But Shakespeare has 
converted it into a tale of universal interest. He makes it but a 
basis for what Keats has called "the fierce dispute betwixt Hell 
torment and impassioned clay." ^ All the details of the story are of 
little importance in themselves, and the art of Shakespeare makes us 
forget them in thinking of the total effect to which they contribute. 
The real subject of the play is not so much I^ear as the outraged 
passion of filial affection. "Nobody from reading Shakespeare," 
says Hazlitt, "would know (except from the Dramatis Personoe) 
that Lear was an English king. He is merely a king and a father. 
The ground is common : but what a well of tears has he dug out of 
it! There are no data in history to go upon; no advantage is 
taken of costume, no acquaintance with geography or architecture or 
dialect is necessary ; but there is an old tradition, human nature, 
— an old temple, the human mind, — and Shakespeare walks into 
it and looks about him with a lordly eye, and seizes on the sacred 
spoils as his own. The story is a thousand or two years old, and yet 
the tragedy has no smack of antiquarianism in it." ^ 

It is this universal quality which allows such anachronisms as 
that one character should personate a madman of the seventeenth 
century and speak a southwestern dialect, or that another should 
refer to the rules of chivalry. The very greatness of King Lear, 
the subordination and even abrogation of all detail, abundant 
though it is, made Charles Lamb declare the play essentially im- 
possible to be represented on a stage. "The greatness of Lear," he 
says, "is not in corporal dimension, but in intellectual: the explo- 

though liable to great abuse in point of practice, is undoubtedly an extension of 
the dramatic circle ; but the comedy should be, as in King Lear, universal, 
ideal, sublime. It is perhaps the intervention of this principle which deter- 
mines the balance in favour of King Lear against (Edipus Tyrannus or the 
Agamemnon. . . . King Lear, if it can sustain this comparison, may be judged 
to be the most perfect specimen of the dramatic art existing in the world, in 
spite of the narrow conditions to which the poet was subjected by the igno- 
rance of the philosophy of the drama which has prevailed in modern Europe." 

1 Sonnet written before re-reading "King Lear." 

2 Hazlitt, "Scott, Racine, and Shakespeare," in The Plain-Speaker. 



INTRODUCTION xix 

sions of liis passion are terrible as a volcano : they are storms turn- 
ing up and disclosing to the bottom that sea, his mind, with all its 
vast riches. It is his mind which is laid bare. This case of flesh 
and blood seems too insignificant to be thought on ; even as he him- 
self neglects it. On the stage we see nothing but corporal infirmities 
and weakness, the impotence of rage ; while we read it, we see not 
Lear, but we are Lear." ^ His sufferings bring out good qualities 
that have been stunted in fortune. When we first know him he is 
so self-centred as to be absolutely regardless of others. But he comes 
to suspect his own "jealous curiosity" (i. 4. 75), tries to find an 
excuse for his enemies (ii. 4. 106-113), and is finally moved to con- 
trition for his former indifference to the lot of even his meanest 
subjects (iii. 4. 28-36). He knows he must be patient. "You 
heavens, give me that patience, patience I need" (ii. 4. 274). He 
asserts that he will be "the pattern of all patience" (iii. 2. 37). But 
the blow has come too late. His fond old heart cannot endure the 
outrage of "the offices of nature, bond of childhood, effects of 
courtesy, dues of gratitude." He is too old to learn resignation. 
His remarks only increase in intensity. When he meets Began after 
his rebuff by Goneril, he can greet her only by saying that if she is 
not glad to see him, her mother must have been an adulteress 
(ii. 4. 132-134). At last he becomes almost inarticulate with 
passion (ii. 4. 281-289). The strain is too great, and the bonds of 
reason snap. Of this the premonitions have been so skillfully given 
that his madness seems inevitable.^ Yet he could never more truly 
say that he was "every inch a king" than when he threw" aside the 
lendings of royalty and stood against the deep dread-bolted thunder, 
and defied the villainy of his unnatural daughters. If he baffles our 
sympathy or regard in the height of his fortune, he wins our rev- 
erence now; and the imagination fondly lingers over his recogni- 
tion of Cordelia and his contentment with prison if only she is 
with him, and finds his early folly nobly expiated in his conduct at 
her death and his inability to live without her.^ 

Yet this ending, as beautiful as it is inevitable, has been con- 

^Lamb, On the Tragedies of Shakespeare. 

2 Several accounts of the course of Lear's madness have been given by- 
medical men. See, for example, Bucknill's Mad Folk of Shakespeare, pp. 160- 
235. 

3 The (Edipus Coloneus of Sophocles offers a remarkable comparison with 
King Lear. CEdipus, too, is a man more sinned against than sinning (see note, 
iii. 2. 60), but he has learned patience and self control and has a strength of 
character wanting in the aged Lear. His curse on Polynices is even more 
terrible than Lear's on Goneril, because it is deliberate, and does not spring 
from a passionate desire for revenge. And Antigone is his Cordelia. 



XX INTRODUCTION 

demned on the score of what is called "poetical justice." As Lear 
is a man more sinned against than sinning, some would have him 
restored to his kingdom. But crime is not the chief tragic motive 
in the Shakespearean drama any more than in that of Greece. 
Lear is guilty of an error, and through it he meets his fate. The 
play of Macbeth is an exception to the general rule, in that the 
tragedy is founded upon crime; on the other hand, Hamlet and 
Othello, for instance, resemble Lear in being the victims of their 
own character and the circumstances in which they are placed. 
Cordelia can well say, "we are not the first. Who with best meaning 
have incurred the worst." That she and Lear, after all that has 
happened, should not incur the worst would be contrary to the 
Shakespearean method, if only for the reason that it would be 
glaringly inartistic. Much as we regret Lear's fate, it alone can 
satisfy our sense of the fitness of things. As Charles Lamb has put 
it with admirable force: "A happy ending! — as if the living 
martyrdom that Lear had gone through, the flaying of his feelings 
alive, did not make a fair dismissal from the stage of life the only 
decorous thing for him. If he is to live and be happy after, if he 
could sustain this world's burden after, why all this pudder and 
preparation, why torment us with all this unnecessary sympathy? 
As if the childish pleasure of getting his gilt robes and sceptre again 
could tempt him to act over again his misused station, — as if at his 
years, and with his experience, anything was left but to die." But, 
it may be asked, does this ending, which is in accordance with 
artistic necessity, entirely fail to satisfy the claims of poetical 
justice? Lear is not troubled by the loss of his kingdom. Why, 
then, should his kingdom be restored to him, the more especially 
as he had in his sane mind given it away ? What he feels is not- the 
actual diminution of his train by his daughters and their other 
unkindnesses so much as the brutality which prompted these acts. 
Justice can be done him, not by restoration to his kingdom, but by 
restoration to filial respect, and it is satisfied by the love of Cordelia, 
This alone " does redeem all sorrows that ever I have felt." 



KING LEAR 



DRAMATIS PERSON.E 

Lear King of Britain 

King of France 
Duke of Burgundy 
Duke of Cornwall 
Duke of Albany 
Earl of Kent 
Earl of Gloucester 

Edgar Son to Gloucester 

Edmund Bastard Son to Gloucester 

CuRAN A courtier 

Old Man Tenant to Gloucester 

Doctor 
Fool 

Oswald Steward to Goneril 

A Captain employed by Edmund 
Gentleman attendant on Cordelia 
A Herald 

Servants to Cornwall 
Goneril ] 

Regan ^ Daughters to Lear 

Cordelia J 

Knights of Lear's train. Captains, Messengers, 
Soldiers, and Attendants 

SCENE — Britain 



King Lear 

ACT I 

Scene I — King Lear's 'palace 
Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmund 

Kent. I thought the king had more affected 
the Duke of Albany than Cornwall. 

Glou. It did always seem so to us : but now, in 
the division of the kingdom, it appears not which 
of the dukes he values most ; for equalities are so 
weighed, that curiosity in neither can make choice 
of cither's moiety. 

Kent. Is not this your son, my lord ? 

Glou. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge : 
I have so often blushed to acknowledge him, that lo 
now I am brazed to it. 

Kent. I cannot conceive you. 

Glou. Sir, this young fellow's mother could : 
whereupon she grew round-wombed, and had, in- 
deed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a hus- 
band for her bed. Do you smell a fault .? 

Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue 
of it being so proper. 

Glou. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, 
some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer 20 
in my account : though this knave came some- 
thing saucily into the world before he was sent 



2 KING LEAR [Act One 

for, yet was his mother fair; there was good 
sport at his making, and the whoreson must be ac- 
knowledged. Do you know this noble gentleman, 
Edmund ? 

Edm. No, my lord. 

Glou. My lord of Kent : remember him hereafter 
as my honourable friend. 

Ed.m. My services to your lordship. 

Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you so 
better. 

Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving. 

Glou. He hath been out nine years, and away 
he shall again. The king is coming. 

Sennet. Enter King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, 
GoNERiL, Regan, Cordelia, and Attendants 

Lear. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, 
Gloucester. 

Glou. I shall, my liege. 

[Exeunt Gloucester and Edmund, 
Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker 
purpose. 
Give me the map there. Know that we have di- 
vided 
In three our kingdom : and 't is our fast intent 
To shake all cares and business from our age ; 40 

Conferring them on younger strengths, while we 
Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of 

Cornwall, 
And you, our no less loving son of Albany, 
We have this hour a constant will to publish 
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife 



Scene One] KING LEAR 3 

May be prevented now. The princes, France and 

Burgundy, 
Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, 
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn. 
And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my 

daughters, — 
Since now we will divest us, both of rule, so 

Interest of territory, cares of state, — 
Which of you shall we say doth love us most ? 
That we our largest bounty may extend 
Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, 
Our eldest-born, speak first. 

Gon. Sir, I love you more than words can wield 

the matter ; 
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty ; 
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare ; 
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, 

honour ; 
As much as child e'er loved, or father found ; 60 

A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable ; 
Beyond all manner of so much I love you. 

Cor. [Aside] What shall Cordelia do.? Love, 

and be silent. 
Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line 

to this. 
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd. 
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads. 
We make thee lady : to thine and Albany's issue 
Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter. 
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall ? Speak. 

Reg. Sir, I am made 70 

Of the self -same metal that my sister is. 



4 KING LEAR [Act One 

And prize me at her worth. In my true heart 

I find she names my very deed of love ; 

Only she comes too short : that I profess 

Myself an enemy to all other joys, 

Which the most precious square of sense possesses ; 

And find I am alone felicitate 

In your dear highness' love. 

Cor. [Aside] Then poor Cordelia ! 

And yet not so ; since, I am sure, my love's 
More ponderous than my tongue. so 

Lear. To thee and thine hereditary ever 
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom ; 
No less in space, validity, and pleasure. 
Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy. 
Although the last, not least ; to whose young love 
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy 
Strive to be interess'd, what can you say to draw 
A third more opulent than your sisters ? Speak. 

Cor. Nothing, my lord. 

Lear. Nothing ! 90 

Cor. Nothing. 

Lear. Nothing will come of nothing : speak 
again. 

Cor. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave 
My heart into my mouth : I love your majesty 
According to my bond ; nor more nor less. 

Lear. How, how, Cordelia ! mend your speech a 
little, 
Lest it may mar your fortunes. 

Cor. Good, my lord. 

You have begot me, bred me, loved me : I 
Return those duties back as are right fit. 



Scene One] KING LEAR 5 

Obey you, love you, and most honour you. io3 

Why have my sisters husbands, if they say 
They love you all ? Haply, when I shall wed. 
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall 

carry 
Half my love with him, half my care and duty : 
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters. 
To love my father all. 

Lear. But goes thy heart with this ? 

Cor. Ay, good my lord. 

Lear. So young, and so untender.? 

Cor. So young, my lord, and true. 

Lear. Let it be so ; thy truth, then, be \hy 

dower : no 

For, by the sacred radiance of the sun. 
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night ; 
By all the operation of the orbs 
From whom we do exist and cease to be ; 
Here I disclaim all my paternal care. 
Propinquity and property of blood. 
And as a stranger to my heart and me 
Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous 

Scythian, 
Or he that makes his generation messes 
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom 120 

Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved. 
As thou my sometime daughter. 

Kent. Good my liege, — 

Lear. Peace, Kent ! 
Come not between the dragon and his wrath. 
I loved her most, and thought to set my rest 
On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight ! 



6 KING LEAR [Act One 

So be my grave my peace, as here I give 

Her father's heart from her ! Call France ; who 

stirs ? 
Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany, 
With my two daughters' dowers digest this third : lao 
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her. 
I do invest you jointly with my power, 
Pre-eminence, and all the large effects 
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly 

course. 
With reservation of an hundred knights. 
By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode 
Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain 
The name, and all the additions to a king ; 
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest. 
Beloved sons, be yours : which to confirm, i40 

This coronet part betwixt you. [Giving the crown, 

Kent. Royal Lear, 

Whom I have ever honour'd as my king. 
Loved as my father, as my master foUow'd, 
As my great patron thought on in my prayers, — 

Lear. The bow is bent and drawn, make from 
the shaft. 

Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade 
The region of my heart : be Kent unmannerly. 
When Lear is mad. What wilt thou do, old 

man? 
Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak. 
When power to flattery bows.? To plainness 

honour's bound, 150 

When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom. 
And, in thy best consideration, check 



Scene One] KING LEAR 7 

This hideous rashness : answer my life my judge- 
ment, 
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least ; 
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound 
Re verbs no hollo wness. 

Lear. Kent, on thy life, no more. 

Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn 
To wage against thy enemies ; nor fear to lose it. 
Thy safety being the motive. 

Lear. Out of my sight ! 

Kent. See better, Lear ; and let me still remain leo 
The true blank of thine eye. 

Lear. Now, by Apollo, — 

Kent. Now, by Apollo, king, 

Thou swear'st thy gods in vain. 

Lear. O, vassal ! miscreant ! 

[Laying his hand on his sword. 

Alb. 



^ , Dear sir, forbear. 
Corn. J 

Kent. Do ; 
Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow 
Upon thy foul disease. Revoke thy doom ; 
Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat, 
I'll tell thee thou dost evil. 

Lear. Hear me, recreant ! 

On thine allegiance, hear me ! 170 

Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow, 
Which we durst never yet, and with strain'd pride 
To come between our sentence and our power, 
Which nor our nature nor our place can bear, 
Our potency made good, take thy reward. 
Five days we do allot thee, for provision 



8 KING LEAR [Act One 

To shield thee from diseases of the world ; 

And on the sixth to turn thy hated back 

Upon our kingdom : if, on the tenth day following. 

Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions, iso 

The moment is thy death. Away ! by Jupiter, 

This shall not be revoked. 

Kent. Fare thee well, king : sith thus thou wilt 

appear. 
Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here. 
[To Cordelia] The gods to their dear shelter take 

thee, maid, 
That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said ! 
[ To Regan and Goneril] And your large speeches may 

your deeds approve. 
That good effects may spring from words of love. 
Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu ; 
He '11 shape his old course in a country new. [Exit. i90 

Flourish. Re-enter Gloucester, with France, 
Burgundy, and Attendants 

Glou. Here 's France and Burgundy, my noble 
lord. 

Lear. My lord of Burgundy, 
We first address towards you, who with this king 
Hath rivall'd for our daughter : what, in the least. 
Will you require in present dower with her. 
Or cease your quest of love ? 

Rur. Most royal majesty, 

I crave no more than what your highness offer'd. 
Nor will you tender less. 

Lear. Right noble Burgundy, 

When she was dear to us, we did hold her so ; 



Scene One] KING LEAR 9 

But now her price is fall'n. Sir, there she stands : 200 
If aught within that Httle seeming substance. 
Or all of it, with our displeasure pieced. 
And nothing more, may fitly like your grace. 
She 's there and she is yours. 

Bur. I know no answer. 

Lear. Will you, with those infirmities she owes, 
Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate, 
Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our 

oath. 
Take her, or leave her ? 

Bur. Pardon me, royal sir; 

Election makes not up on such conditions. 

Lear. Then leave her, sir; for, by the power 

that made me, 21c 

I tell you all her wealth. [To France] For you, great 

king, 
I would not from your love make such a stray. 
To match you where I hate ; therefore beseech you 
To avert your liking a more worthier way 
Than on a wretch whom nature is ashamed 
Almost to acknowledge hers. 

France. This is most strange. 

That she, that even but now was your best object. 
The argument of your praise, balm of your age, 
Most best, most dearest, should in this trice of 

time 
Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle 220 

So many folds of favour. Sure, her offence 
Must be of such unnatural degree. 
That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection 
Fall'n into taint : which to believe of her. 



10 KING LEAR [Act One 

Must be a faith that reason without miracle 
Could never plant in me. 

Cor. I yet beseech your majesty, — 

If for I want that glib and oily art, 
To speak and purpose not, — since what I well 

intend, 
I '11 do 't before I speak, — that you make known 
It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness, 23c 

No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step. 
That hath deprived me of your grace and favour ; 
But even for want of that for which I am richer, 
A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue 
As I am glad I have not, though not to have it 
Hath lost me in your liking. 

Lear. Better thou 

Hadst not been born than not to have pleased me 
better. 

France. Is it but this, — a tardiness in nature 
Which often leaves the history unspoke 
That it intends to do "^ My lord of Burgundy, 24G 
What say you to the lady ? Love 's not love 
When it is mingled with regards that stand 
Aloof from the entire point. Will you have her ? 
She is herself a dowry. 

Bur. Royal Lear, 

Give but that portion which yourself proposed. 
And here I take CordeHa by the hand, 
Duchess of Burgundy. > 

Lear. Nothing; I have sworn; I am firm. 

Bur. I am sorry, then, you have so lost a father 
That you must lose a husband. 

Cor. Peace be with Burgundy ! 250 



Scene One] KING LEAR 11 

Since that respects of fortune are his love, 
I shall not be his wife. 

France. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, 

being poor ; 
Most choice, forsaken ; and most loved, despised ! 
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon : 
Be it lawful I take up what 's cast away. 
Gods, gods! 'tis strange that from their cold'st 

neglect 
My love should kindle to inflamed respect. 
Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my 

chance. 
Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France : 260 

Not all the dukes of waterish Burgundy 
Can buy this unprized precious maid of me. 
Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind : 
Thou losest here, a better where to find. 

Lear. Thou hast her, France : let her be thine ; 

for we 
Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see 
That face of hers again. Therefore be gone 
Without our grace, our love, our benison. 
Come, noble Burgundy. 

[Flourish. Exeunt all hut France, 
Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. 
France. Bid farewell to your sisters. 270 

Cor. The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes 
Cordelia leaves you : I know you what you are ; 
And like a sister am most loath to call 
Your faults as they are named. Use well our 

father : 
To your professed bosoms I commit him : 



12 KING LEAR [Act One 

But yet, alas, stood I within his grace, 
I would prefer him to a better place. 
So, farewell to you both. 

Reg. Prescribe not us our duties. 

Gon. Let your study 

Be to content your lord, who hath received you 28o 
At fortune's alms. You have obedience scanted, 
And well are worth the want that you have wanted. 

Cor. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning 
hides : 
Who cover faults, at last shame them derides. 
Well may you prosper ! 

France. Come, my fair Cordelia. 

[Exeunt France and Cordelia. 

Gon. Sister, it is not a little I have to say of what 
most nearly appertains to us both. I think our 
father will hence to-night. 

Reg. That 's most certain, and with you ; next 
month with us. 290 

Gon. You see how full of changes his age is ; the 
observation we have made of it hath not been little : 
he always loved our sister most ; and with what poor 
judgement he hath now cast her off appears too 
grossly. 

Reg. 'T is the infirmity of his age : yet he hath 
ever but slenderly known himself. 

Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath 
been but rash; then must we look to receive 
from his age, not alone the imperfections of long- 300 
engraffed condition, but therewithal the unruly 
waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring 
with them. 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 13 

Reg. Such unconstant starts are we like to have 
from him as this of Kent's banishment. 

Gon. There is fm*ther compHment of leave- 
taking between France and him. Pray you, let's 
hit together : if our father carry authority with such 
dispositions as he bears, this last surrender of his 
will but offend us. 3iQ 

Reg. We shall further think on 't. 

Gon. We must do something, and i' the heat. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene II — The Earl of Gloucester's castle i 

Enter Edmund, with a letter K^^ 

Edm. Thou, nature, art my goddess ; to thy law 
My services are bound. Wherefore should I 
Stand in the plague of custom, and permit 
The curiosity of nations to deprive me. 
For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon- 
shines 
Lag of a brother ? Why bastard ? wherefore base ? 
When my dimensions are as well compact, 
My mind as generous, and my shape as true. 
As honest madam's issue ? Why brand they us 
With base ? with baseness ? bastardy ? base, base ? ic 
Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take 
More composition and fierce quality 
Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed. 
Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops. 
Got 'tween asleep and wake ? Well, then. 
Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land : 
Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund 
As to the legitimate : fine word, — legitimate ! 



14 KING LEAR [Act One 

Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed. 
And my invention thrive, Edmund the base 2© 

Shall top the legitimate. I grow ; I prosper : 
Now, gods, stand up for bastards ! 

Enter Gloucester 

Glou. Kent banish'd thus ! and France in choler 
parted ! 
And the king gone to-night ! subscribed his power ! 
Confined to exhibition ! All this done 
Upon the gad ! Edmund, how now ! what news ? 

Edm. So please your lordship, none. 

[Putting wp the letter. 

Glou. Why so earnestly seek you to put up that 
letter .? 

Edm. I know no news, my lord. 

Glou. What paper were you reading .^ so 

Edm. Nothing, my lord. 

Glou. No.f^ What needed, then, that terrible 
dispatch of it into your pocket .^^ the quality of 
nothing hath not such need to hide itself. Let 's 
see : come, if it be nothing, I shall not need 
spectacles. 

Edm. I beseech you, sir, pardon me : it is a 
letter from my brother, that I have not all o'er-read ; 
and for so much as I have perused, I find it not fit 
for your o'er-looking. ^^ 

Glou. Give me the letter, sir. 

Edm. I shall offend, either to detain or give 
it. The contents, as in part I understand them, 
are to blame. 

Glou. Let 's see, let 's see. 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 15 

Edm, I hope, for my brother's justification, 
he wrote this but as an essay or taste of my 
virtue. 

Glou. [Reads] ''This policy and reverence of age 
makes the world bitter to the best of our 50 
times ; keeps our fortunes from us till our 
oldness cannot relish them. I begin to find 
an idle and fond bondage in the oppression of 
aged tyranny ; who sways, not as it hath 
power, but as it is suffered. Come to me, 
that of this I may speak more. If our father 
would sleep till I waked him, you should 
enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live the 
beloved of your brother, Edgar." 
Hum — conspiracy ! — "Sleep till I waked him, — 
you should enjoy half his revenue," — My son 
Edgar ! Had he a hand to write this ? a heart and 60 
brain to breed it m? — When came this to you ? 
who brought it ? 

Edm. It was not brought me, my lord ; there 's 
the cunning of it ; I found it thrown in at the case- 
ment of my closet. 

Glou. You know the character to be your 
brother's ? 

Edm. If the matter were good, my lord, I durst 
swear it were his ; but, in respect of that, I would 
fain think it were not. 7o 

Glou. It is his. 

Edm. It is his hand, my lord; but I hope his 
heart is not in the contents. 

Glou. Hath he never heretofore sounded you in 
this business ? 



16 KING LEAR [Act One 

Edm. Never, my lord : but I have heard him 
oft maintain it to be fit, that, sons at perfect age, 
and fathers declining, the father should be as ward 
to the son, and the son manage his revenue. 

Glou. O villain, villain ! His very opinion in so 
the letter ! Abhorred villain ! Unnatural, de- 
tested, brutish villain ! worse than brutish ! Go, 
sirrah, seek him ; I'll apprehend him : abominable 
villain ! Where is he ? 

Edm. I do not well know, my lord. If it shall 
please you to suspend your indignation against my 
brother till you can derive from him better testi- 
mony of his intent, you shall rjm a certain course ; 
where, if you violently proceed against him, mis- 
taking his purpose, it would make a great gap in 9o 
your own honour, and shake in pieces the heart of 
his obedience. I dare pawn down my life for him, 
that he hath wrote this to feel my affection to 
your honour, and to no further pretence of danger. 

Glou. Think you so .^ 

Edm. If your honour judge it meet, I will place 
you where you shall hear us confer of this, and 
by an auricular assurance have your satisfaction; 
and that without any further delay than this very loo 
evening. 

Glou. He cannot be such a monster — 

Edm. Nor is not, sure. 

Glou. To his father, that so tenderly and entirely 
loves him. Heaven and earth ! Edmund, seek 
him out ; wind me into him, I pray you : frame the 
business after your own wisdom. I would unstate 
myself, to be in a due resolution. 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 17 

Edm. I will seek him, sir, presently ; convey the 
business as I shall find means, and acquaint you no 
withal. 

Glou. These late eclipses in the sun and moon 
portend no good to us : though the wisdom of na- 
ture can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds 
itseK scourged by the sequent effects : love cools, 
friendship falls off, brothers divide : in cities, 
mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, trea- 
son; and the bond cracked 'twixt son and father. 
This villain of mine comes under the prediction; 
there 's son against father : the king falls from 120 
bias of nature ; there 's father against child. We 
have seen the best of our time : machinations, 
hollo wness, treachery, and all ruinous disorders, 
follow us disquietly to our graves. Find out this 
villain, Edmund; it shall lose thee nothing; do 
it carefully. And the noble and true-hearted 
Kent banished ! his offence, honesty ! 'T is strange. 

[Exit. 

Edm. This is the excellent foppery of the world, 
that, when we are sick in fortune, — often the sur- 
feit of our own behaviour, — we make guilty of our 130 
disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars : as if we 
were villains by necessity ; fools by heavenly com- 
pulsion : knaves, thieves, and treachers, by spheri- 
cal predominance ; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, 
by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; 
and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on : 
an admirable evasion of whore-master man, to lay 
his goatish disposition to the charge of a star ! 
My father compounded with my mother under the 



18 KING LEAR [Act One 

dragon's tail ; and my nativity was under Ursa i4o 
major ; so that it follows, I am rough and lecher- 
ous. Tut, I should have been that I am, had the 
maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my 
bastardizing. Edgar — 

Enter Edgar 

and pat he comes like the catastrophe of the old 
comedy : my cue is villanous melancholy," with a 
sigh like Tom o' Bedlam. O, these eclipses do 
portend these divisions ! fa, sol, la, mi. 

Edg. How now, brother Edmund ! what serious iso 
contemplation are you in ? 

Edm. I am thinking, brother, of a prediction I 
read this other day, what should follow these 
eclipses. 

Edg. Do you busy yourself about that ? 

Edm. I promise you, the effects he writes of 
succeed unhappily; as of unnaturalness between 
the child and the parent; death, dearth, dissolu- 
tions of ancient amities; divisions in state, men- 
aces and maledictions against king and nobles ; leo 
needless diffidences, banishment of friends, dissi- 
pation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know 
not what. 

Edg. How long have you been a sectary astro- 
nomical ? 

Edm. Come, come; when saw you my father 
last.?^ 

Edg. Why, the night gone by. 

Edm. Spake you with him ^ 

Edg. Ay, two hours together. i70 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 19 

Edm. Parted you in good terms? Found you 
no displeasure in him by word or countenance ? 

Edg. None at all. 

Edm. Bethink yourself wherein you may have 
offended him : and at my entreaty forbear his 
presence till some little time hath qualified the heat 
of his displeasure ; which at this instant so rageth in 
him, that with the mischief of your person it would 
scarcely allay. 

Edg. Some villain hath done me wrong. isi 

Edm. That 's my fear. I pray you, have a 
continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes 
slower ; and, as I say, retire with me to my lodging, 
from whence I will fitly bring you to hear my lord 
speak : pray ye, go ; there 's my key : if you do stir 
abroad, go armed. 

Edg. Armed, brother ! 

Edm. Brother, I advise you to the best; go 
armed : I am no honest man if there be any good 
meaning towards you : I have told you what I have i90 
seen and heard ; but faintly, nothing like the image 
and horror of it : pray you, away. 

Edg. Shall I hear from you anon ? 

Edm. I do serve you in this business. 

[Exit Edgar. 
A credulous father ! and a brother noble. 
Whose nature is so far from doing harms. 
That he suspects none ; on whose foolish honesty 
My practices ride easy ! I see the business. 
Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit : 
All with me 's meet that I can fashion fit. [Exit 200 



20 KING LEAR [Act One 

Scene III — The Duke of Albany's 'palace 

Enter Goneril, and Oswald, her steward 

Gon. Did my father strike my gentleman for 
chiding of his fool ? 

Osw. Yes, madam. 

Gon. By day and night he wrongs me; every 
hour 
He flashes into one gross crime or other, 
That sets us all at odds : I 11 not endure it : 
His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us 
On every trifle. When he returns from hunting, 
I will not speak with him ; say I am sick : 
If you come slack of former services, 
You shall do well ; the fault of it I '11 answer. lo 

Osw. He 's coming, madam ; I hear him. 

[Horns within. 

Gon. Put on what weary negligence you please. 
You and your fellows ; I 'Id have it come to question : 
If he dislike it, let him to our sister, 
Whose mind and mine, I know, in that are one, 
Not to be over-ruled. Idle old man. 
That still would manage those authorities 
That he hath given away ! Now, by my life, 
Old fools are babes again ; and must be used 
With checks as flatteries, — when they are seen 

abused. 20 

Remember what I tell you. 

Osw. Well, madam. 

Gon. And let his knights have colder looks 
among you ; 
What grows of it, no matter ; advise your fellows so : 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 21 

I would breed from hence occasions, and I shall. 
That I may speak : I '11 write straight to my sister. 
To hold my very course. Prepare for dinner. 

[Exeunt, 
Scene IV — A hall in the same 

Enter Kent, disguised 

Kent. If but as well I other accents borrow. 
That can my speech defuse, my good intent 
May carry through itself to that full issue 
For which I razed my likeness. Now, banish'd 

Kent, 
If thou canst serve where thou dost stand con- 

demn'd. 
So may it come, thy master, whom thou lovest. 
Shall find thee full of labours. 

Horns within. Enter Lear, Knights, 
and Attendants 

Lear. Let me not stay a jot for dinner ; go get 
it ready. [Exit an Attendant.] How now ! what 
art thou ? ic 

Kent. A man, sir. 

Lear. What dost thou profess? whatwouldst 
thou with us ? 

Kent. I do profess to be no less than I seem ; to 
serve him truly that will put me in trust : to love 
him that is honest; to converse with him that is 
wise, and says little; to fear judgement; to fight 
when I cannot choose ; and to eat no fish. 

Lear. What art thou.? 

Kent. A very honest-hearted fellow, and as 20 
poor as the king. 



22 KING LEAR [Act One 

Lear. If thou be as poor for a subject as he 
is for a king, thou art poor enough. What wouldst 
thou? 

Kent. Service. 

Lear. Who wouldst thou serve? 

Kent. You. 

Lear, Dost thou know me, fellow ? 

Kent. No, sir ; but you have that in your coun- 
tenance which I would fain call master. 30 

Lear. What 's that ? 

Kent. Authority. 

Lear. What services canst thou do ? 

Kent. I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, 
mar a curious tale in telling it, and deliver a plain 
message bluntly : that which ordinary men are 
fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is 
diligence. 

Lear. How old art thou ? 

Kent. Not so young, sir, to love a woman for40 
singing, nor so old to dote on her for anything : I 
have years on my back forty-eight. 

Lear. Follow me ; thou shalt serve me : if 
I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part 
from thee yet. Dinner, ho, dinner ! Where 's 
my knave? my fool? Go you, and call my fool 
hither. [Exit an Attendant, 

Enter Oswald 

You, you, sirrah, where 's my daughter ? 

Osw. So please you, — [Exit. 

Lear. What says the fellow there? Call the 50 
clotpoll back. [Exit a Knight.] Where 's my fool, 
ho ? I think the world 's asleep. 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 23 

Re-enter Kniglat 

How now ! where 's that mongrel ? 

Knight. He says, my lord, your daughter is not 
well. 

Lear. Why came not the slave back to me when 
I called him ? 

Knight. Sir, he answered me in the roundest 
manner, he would not. 

Lear. He would not ! 60 

Knight. My lord, I know not what the matter 
is; but, to my judgement, your highness is not 
entertained with that ceremonious affection as 
you were wont; there 's a great abatement of 
kindness appears as well in the general depend- 
ants as in the duke himself also and your 
daughter. 

Lear. Ha ! sayest thou so } 

Knight. I beseech you, pardon me, my lord, if I 
be mistaken; for my duty cannot be silent when 70 
I think your highness wronged. 

Lear. Thou but rememberest me of mine own 
conception : I have perceived a most faint neglect 
of late; which I have rather blamed as mine own 
jealous curiosity than as a very pretence and pur- 
pose of unkindness : I will look further into 't. 
But where 's my fool .? I have not seen him this 
two days. 

Knight. Since my young lady's going into 
France, sir, the fool hath much pined away. so 

Lear. No more of that; I have noted it well. 
Go you, and tell my daughter I would speak with 



24 KING LEAR [Act One 

her. [Exit an Attendant.] Go you, call hither my 

fool. [Exit an Attendant. 

Re-enter Oswald 

O, you sir, you, come you hither, sir: who 
am I, sir? 

Osw. My lady's father. 

Lear. '*My lady's father"! my lord's knave: 
you whoreson dog ! you slave ! you cur ! 

Osw. I am none of these, my lord; I beseech 90 
your pardon. 

Lear. Do you bandy looks with me, you 
rascal ? [Striking him. 

Osw. I '11 not be struck, my lord. 

Kent. Nor tripped neither, you base foot-ball 
player. [Tripping up his heels. 

Lear. I thank thee, fellow ; thou servest me, and 
I '11 love thee. 

Kent, Come, sir, arise, away ! I '11 teach you 
differences : away, away ! If you will measure 100 
your lubber's length again, tarry : but away ! go 
to ; have you wisdom ? so. [Pushes Oswald out. 

Lear. Now, my friendly knave, I thank thee : 
there 's earnest of thy service. [Giving Kent money. 

Enter Fool 

Fool. Let me hire him too : here's my cox- 
comb. [Offering Kent his cap. 

Lear. How now, my pretty knave ! how dost 
thou.? 

Fool. Sirrah, you were best take my cox- 
comb. 

Kent. Why, fool ? no 



Scene Fouq] KING LEAR 25 

Fool. Why, for taking one's part that 's out of 
favour : nay, an thou canst not smile as the wind 
sits, thou 'It catch cold shortly : there, take my 
coxcomb : why, this fellow has banished two on 's 
daughters, and did the third a blessing against his 
will : if thou follow him, thou must needs wear my 
coxcomb. How now, nuncle ! Would I had two 
coxcombs and two daughters ! 
Lear. Why, my boy ? 

Fool. If I gave them all my living, I 'Id keep my 120 
coxcombs myself. There 's mine ; beg another of 
thy daughters. 

Lear. Take heed, sirrah ; the whip. 
Fool. Truth 's a dog must to kennel ; he must 
be whipped out, when Lady the brach may stand 
by the fire and stink. 

Lear. A pestilent gall to me ! 
Fool. Sirrah, I '11 teach thee a speech. 
Lear. Do. 

Fool. Mark it, nuncle : iso 

Have more than thou showest. 
Speak less than thou knowest. 
Lend less than thou owest. 
Ride more than thou goest. 
Learn more than thou trowest. 
Set less than thou throwest ; 
Leave thy drink and thy whore, 
And keep in-a-door. 
And thou shalt have more 
Than two tens to a score. 140 

Kent. This is nothing, fool. 
Fool. Then 't is like the breath of an unfee'd 



26 KING LEAR [Act One 

lawyer ; you gave me nothing for 't. Can you 
make no use of nothing, nuncle ? 

Lear. Why, no, boy ; nothing can be made out 
of nothing. 

Fool. [To Kent] Prithee, tell him, so much 
the rent of his land comes to : he will not believe 
a fool. 

Lear. A bitter fool ! i5o 

Fool. Dost thou know the difference, my boy, 
between a bitter fool and a sweet fool ? 
Lear. No, lad ; teach me. 
Fool. That lord that counsell'd thee 
To give away thy land. 
Come place him here by me. 

Do thou for him stand : 
The sweet and bitter fool 
Will presently appear ; 
The one in motley here, leo 

The other found out there. 
Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy "^ 
Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away ; 
that thou wast born with. 

Kent. This is not altogether fool, my lord. 
Fool. No, faith, lords and great men will not 
let me ; if I had a monopoly out, they would have 
part on 't : and ladies too, they will not let me 
have all fool to myself; they 'U be snatching. 
Give me an Q;gg, nuncle, and I '11 give thee two 170 
crowns. 

Lear. What two crowns shall they be.^^ 
Fool. Why, after I have cut the egg i' the middle, 
and eat up the meat, the two crowns of the egg. 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 27 

When thou clovest thy crown i' the middle, and 
gavest away both parts, thou borest thy ass on thy 
back o'er the dirt : thou hadst little wit in thy bald 
crown, when thou gavest thy golden one away. If 
I speak like myself in this, let him be whipped that 
first finds it so. iso 

[Singing] Fools had ne'er less wit in a year ; 

For wise men are grown foppish, 
They know not how their wits to wear. 

Their manners are so apish. 
Lear. When were you wont to be so full of songs, 
sirrah ? 

Fool. I have used it, nuncle, ever since thou 
madest thy daughters thy mother : for when thou 
gavest them the rod, and put'st down thine own 
breeches, i90 

[Singing] Then they for sudden joy did weep, 

And I for sorrow sung. 
That such a king should play bo-peep. 

And go the fools among. 
Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can teach 
thy fool to lie : I would fain learn to lie. 

Lear. An you lie, sirrah, we '11 have you 
whipped. 

Fool. I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters 
are : they '11 have me whipped for speaking true, 200 
thou 'It have me whipped for lying ; and sometimes 
I am whipped for holding my peace. I had rather 
be any kind o' thing than a fool : and yet I would 
not be thee, nuncle; thou hast pared thy wit o' 
both sides, and left nothing i' the middle : here 
comes one o' the parings. 



28 KING LEAR [Act On?? 

Enter Goneril 

Lear. How now, daughter ! what makes that 
frontlet on ? Methinks you are too much of late i' 
the frown. 

Fool. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst 210 
no need to care for her frowning ; now thou art an 

without a figure : I am better than thou art now ; 

1 am a fool, thou art nothing. [To Gon.] Yes, 
forsooth, I will hold my tongue ; so your face bids 
me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum, 

He that keeps nor crust nor crum. 
Weary of all, shall want some. 
[Pointing to Lear] That 's a shealed peascod. 

Gon. Not only, sir, this your all-licensed fool, 220 
But other of your insolent retinue 
Do hourly carp and quarrel ; breaking forth 
In rank and not- to-be-endured riots. Sir, 
I had thought, by making this well known unto you. 
To have found a safe redress ; but now grow fearful. 
By what yourself too late have spoke and done, 
That you protect this course, and put it on 
By your allowance ; which if you should, the fault 
Would not 'scape censure, nor the redresses sleep. 
Which, in the tender of a wholesome weal, 230 

Might in their working do you that offence, 
Which else were shame, that then necessity 
Will call discreet proceeding. 

Fool. For, you know, nuncle. 

The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long. 
That it had it head bit off by it young. 
So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling. 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 29 

Lear. Are you our daughter ? 

Gon. Come, sir. 
I would you would make use of that good wisdom, 240 
Whereof I know you are fraught ; and put away 
These dispositions, that of late transform you 
From what you rightly are. 

Fool. May not an ass know when the cart draws 
the horse "? Whoop, Jug ! I love thee. 

Lear. Doth any here know me.^^ This is not 
Lear: 
Doth Lear walk thus ^ speak thus ^ Where are his 

eyes .^ 
Either his notion weakens, his discernings 
Are lethargied — Ha ! waking .^ 't is not so. 
Who is it that can tell me who I am ? 250 

Fool. Lear's shadow. 

Lear. I would learn that ; for, by the marks of 
sovereignty, knowledge, and reason, I should be 
false persuaded I had daughters. 

Fool. Which they will make an obedient father. 

Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman ? 

Gon. This admiration, sir, is much o' the savour 
Of other your new pranks. I do beseech you 
To understand my purposes aright : 260 

As you are old and reverend, you should be wise. 
Here do you keep a hundred knights and squires ; 
Men so disorder'd, so debosh'd and bold. 
That this our court, infected with their manners, 
Shows like a riotous inn : epicurism and lust 
Make it more like a tavern or a brothel 
Than a graced palace. The shame itself doth speak 
For instant remedy : be then desired 



so KING LEAR [Act One 

By her, that else will take the thing she begs, 

A little to disquantity your train ; 270 

And the remainder that shall still depend, 

To be such men as may besort your age, 

And know themselves and you. 

Lear. Darkness and devils ! 

Saddle my horses ; call my train together. 
Degenerate bastard ! I '11 not trouble thee : 
Yet have I left a daughter. 

Gon. You strike my people, and your disorder'd 
rabble 
Make servants of their betters. 

Enter Albany 

Lear. Woe, that too late repents, — [To Alb.] 
O, sir, are you come "^ 
Is it your will .? Speak, sir. Prepare my horses. 280 
Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, 
More hideous when thou show'st thee in a child 
Than the sea-monster ! 

Alb. Pray, sir, be patient. 

Lear. [To Gon.] Detested kite ! thou liest : 
My train are men of choice and rarest parts. 
That all particulars of duty know. 
And in the most exact regard support 
The worships of their name. O most small fault. 
How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show ! 
That, like an engine, wrench'd my frame of nature 290 
From, the fix'd place ; drew from my heart all love. 
And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear ! 
Beat at this gate, that let thy folly in, 

[Striking his head. 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 31 

And thy dear judgement out ! Go, go, my 
people. 

Alb. My lord, I am guiltless, as I am ignorant 
Of what hath moved you. 

Lear. It may be so, my lord. 

Hear, nature, hear ; dear goddess, hear ! 
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend 
To make this creature fruitful ! 

Into her womb convey sterility ! 300 

Dry up in her the organs of increase ; 
And from her derogate body never spring 
A babe to honour her ! If she must teem. 
Create her child of spleen ; that it may live 
And be a thwart disnatured torment to her ! 
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth ; 
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks ; 
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits 
To laughter and contempt ; that she may feel 
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is sio 

To have a thankless child ! Away, away ! [Exit. 

Alb. Now, gods that we adore, whereof comes 
this ? 

Gon. Never afflict yourself to know the cause ; 
But let his disposition have that scope 
That dotage gives it. 

Re-enter Lear 

Lear. What, fifty of my followers at a clap ! 
Within a fortnight ! 

Alb. What 's the matter, sir.^ 

Lear. I '11 tell thee : [To Gon.] Life and death ! 
I am ashamed 



32 KING LEAR [Act One 

That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus ; 
That these hot tears, which break from me perforce, 320 
Should make thee worth them. Blasts and fogs 

upon thee ! 
The untented woundings of a father's curse 
Pierce every sense about thee ! Old fond eyes, 
Beweep this cause again, I '11 pluck ye out. 
And cast you, with the waters that you lose, 
To temper clay. Yea, is it come to this ? 
Let it be so : yet have I left a daughter. 
Who, I am sure, is kind and comfortable : 
When she shall hear this of thee, with her nails 
She '11 flay thy wolvish visage. Thou shalt find 330 
That I '11 resume the shape which thou dost think 
I have cast off for ever : thou shalt, I warrant thee. 
[Exeunt Lear, Kent, and Attendants. 
Gon. Do you mark that, my lord ? 
Alb. I cannot be so partial, Goneril, 
To the great love I bear you, — 

Gon. Pray you, content. What, Oswald, ho ! 
[To the Fool] You sir, more knave than fool, after 
your master. 
Fool. Nuncle Lear, nuncle Lear, tarry and take 
the fool with thee. 

A fox, when one has caught her, 340 

And such a daughter. 
Should sure to the slaughter. 
If my cap would buy a 'halter : 
So the fool follows after. [Exit. 

Gon. This man hath had good counsel : — a 
hundred knights ! 
'T is politic and safe to let him keep 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 3S 

At point a hundred knights : yes, that on every 

dream, 
Each buzz, each fancy, each complaint, dislike, 
He may enguard his dotage with their powers. 
And hold our lives in mercy. Oswald, I say ! 350 

Alb. Well, you may fear too far. 

Gon. Safer than trust too far : 

Let me still take away the harms I fear. 
Not fear still to be taken : I know his heart. 
What he hath utter'd I have writ my sister : 
If she sustain him and his hundred knights, 
When I have show'd the unfitness, — 

Re-enter Oswald 

How now, Oswald ! 
What, have you writ that letter to my sister ? 

Osw. Yes, madam. 

Gon. Take you some company, and away to 
horse : 
Inform her full of my particular fear ; 360 

And thereto add such reasons of your own 
As may compact it more. Get you gone ; 
And hasten your return. [Exit Oswald.] No, no, 

my lord. 
This milky gentleness and course of yours 
Though I condemn not, yet, under pardon. 
You are much more attask'd for want of wisdom 
Than praised for harmful mildness. 

Alb. How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell : 
Striving to better, oft we mar what 's well. 

Gon. Nay, then — 370 

Alb. Well, well ; the event. [Exeunt. 



34 KING LEAR [Act One 

Scene V — Court before the same 
Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool 

Lear. Go you before to Gloucester with these 
letters. Acquaint my daughter no further with 
any thing you know than comes from her demand 
out of the letter. If your diligence be not speedy, I 
shall be there afore you. 

Kent. I will not sleep, my lord, till I have 
delivered your letter. [Exit. 

Fool. If a man's brains were in 's heels, were 't 
not in danger of kibes ? 

Lear. Ay, boy. 10 

Fool. Then, I prithee, be merry ; thy wit shall 
ne'er go slip-shod. 

Lear. Ha, ha, ha ! 

Fool. Shalt see thy other daughter will use thee 
kindly ; for though she 's as like this as a crab 's 
like an apple, yet I can tell what I can tell. 

Lear. Why, what canst thou tell, my boy .? 

Fool. She will taste as like this as a crab does to 
a crab. Thou canst tell why one's nose stands i' 
the middle on 's face ? 20 

Lear. No. 

Fool. Why, to keep one's eyes of either side 's 
nose ; that what a man cannot smell out, he may 
spy into. 

Lear. I did her wrong — 

Fool. Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell ? 

Lear. No. 

Fool. Nor I neither ; but I can tell why a snail 
has a house. 30 



Scene Five] KING LEAR 35 

Lear. Why ? 

Fool. Why, to put his head in ; not to give it 
away to his daughters, and leave his horns without a 
case. 

Lear. I will forget my nature. So kind a father ! 
Be my horses ready 2 

Fool. Thy asses are gone about 'em. The rea- 
son why the seven stars are no more than seven is a 
pretty reason. 

Lear. Because they are not eight ? 40 

Fool. Yes, indeed : thou wouldst make a good 
fool. 

Lear. To take 't again perforce ! Monster in- 
gratitude ! 

Fool. If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I 'Id have 
thee beaten for being old before thy time. 

Lear. How 's that "^ 

Fool. Thou shouldst not have been old till thou 
hadst been wise. 

Lear. O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet 

heaven ! so 

Keep me in temper : I would not be mad ! 

Enter Gentleman 

How now ! are the horses ready ? 
Gent. Beady, my lord. 

Lear. Come, boy. [Exeunt. 

Fool. She that's a maid now, and laughs at my 
departure, 
Shall not be a maid long, unless things be cut 
shorter. 



36 KING LEAR [Act Two 

ACT II 

Scene I — The Earl of Gloucester's castle 
Enter Edmund and Curan meets him 

Edm. Save thee, Curan. 

Cur. And you, sir. I have been with your 
father, and given him notice that the Duke of Corn- 
wall and Regan his duchess will be here with him 
this night. 

Edm. How comes that ? 

Cur. Nay, I know not. You have heard of the 
news abroad ; I mean the whispered ones, for they 
are yet but ear-kissing arguments ? 

Edm. Not I : pray you, what are they ? lo 

Cur. Have you heard of no likely wars toward, 
'twixt the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany ? 

Edm. Not a word. 

Cur. You may do, then, in time. Fare you 
well, sir. [Exit. 

Edm. The duke be here to-night ? The better ! 
best! 
This weaves itself perforce into my business. 
My father hath set guard to take my brother ; 
And I have one thing, of a queasy question. 
Which I must act : briefness and fortune, work ! 20 
Brother, a word ; descend : brother, I say ! 

Enter Edgar 

My father watches : O sir, fly this place ; 

Intelligence is given where you are hid ; 

You have now the good advantage of the night : 



Scene One] KING LEAR 37 

Have you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornwall ? 
He 's coming hither ; now, i' the night, i' the haste. 
And Regan with him : have you nothing said 
Upon his party 'gainst the Duke of Albany ? 
Advise yourself. 

Edg. I am sure on 't, not a word. 

Edm. I hear my father coming : pardon me ; so 
In cunning I must draw my sword upon you : 
Draw ; seem to defend yourself ; now quit you well. 
Yield : come before my father. Light, ho, here ! 
Fly, brother. Torches, torches ! So, farewell. 

[Exit Edgar. 
Some blood drawn on me would beget opinion 

\Woiinds his arm. 
Of my more fierce endeavour : I have seen drunk- 
ards 
Do more than this in sport. Father, father ! 
Stop, stop ! No help "^ 

Enter Gloucester, and Servants with torches 

Glou. Now, Edmund, where 's the villain ? 
Edm. Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword 

out, 40 

Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon 
To stand auspicious mistress, — 

Glou. But where is he ? 

Edm. Look, sir, I bleed. 

Glou. Where is the villain, Edmund ? 

Edm. Fled this way, sir. When by no means 

he could — 
Glou. Pursue him, ho ! Go after. [Exeunt some 

servants.] By no means what.f^ 



38 KING LEAR [Act Two 

Edm. Persuade me to the murder of your lord- 
ship; 
But that I told him, the revenging gods 
'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend ; 
Spoke, with how manifold and strong a bond 
The child was bound to the father ; sir, in fine, so 
Seeing how loathly opposite I stood 
To his unnatural purpose, in fell motion, 
With his prepared sword, he charges home 
My unprovided body, lanced mine arm : 
But when he saw my best alarum'd spirits, 
Bold in the quarrel's right, roused to the encounter, 
Or whether gasted by the noise I made, 
Full suddenly he fled. 

Glou, Let him fly far : 

Not in this land shall he remain uncaught ; 
And found — dispatch. The noble duke my 

master, 60 

My worthy arch and patron, comes to-night : 
By his authority I will proclaim it. 
That he which finds him shall deserve our thanks, 
Bringing the murderous coward to the stake ; 
He that conceals him, death. 

Edm. When I dissuaded him from his intent. 
And found him pight to do it, with curst speech 
I threaten'd to discover him : he replied, 
"Thou unpossessing bastard ! dost thou think. 
If I would stand against thee, would the reposal 70 
Of any trust, virtue, or worth in thee 
Make thy words faith'd ? No : what I should 

deny, — 
As this I would ; ay, though thou didst produce 



Scene One] KING LEAR 39 

My very character, — I 'Id turn it all 
To thy suggestion, plot, and damn'd practice : 
And thou must make a dullard of the world, 
If they not thought the profits of my death 
Were very pregnant and potential spurs 
To make thee seek it." 

Glou. Strong and fasten'd villain ! 

Would he deny his letter ? I never got him. so 

[Tucket within. 
Hark, the duke's trumpets ! I know not why he 

comes. 
All ports I '11 bar ; the villain shall not 'scape ; 
The duke must grant me that : besides, his picture 
I will send far and near, that all the kingdom 
May have due note of him ; and of my land, 
Loyal and natural boy, I '11 work the means 
To make thee capable. 

Enter Cornwall, Regan, and Attendants 

Corn. How now, my noble friend ! since I came 
hither. 
Which I can call but now, I have heard strange 
news. 
Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short 90 
Which can pursue the offender. How dost, my 
lord? 
Glou. O, madam, my old heart is crack'd, is 

crack 'd ! 
Reg. What, did my father's godson seek your 
life? 
He whom my friend named ? your Edgar ? 

Glou. O, lady, lady, shame would have it hid I 



40 KING LEAR [Act Two 

Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous 
knights 
That tend upon my father ? 

Glou. I know not, madam : 't is too bad, 
too bad. 

Edm. Yes, madam, he was of that consort. 

Reg. No marvel, then, though he were ill 

affected : ion 

'T is they have put him on the old man's death, 
To have the expense and waste of his revenues. 
I have this present evening from my sister 
Been well inform'd of them; and with such cau- 
tions, 
That if they come to sojourn at my house, 
I '11 not be there. 

Corn. Nor I, assure thee, Regan. 

Edmund, I hear that you have shown your father 
A child-like office. 

Edm. 'T was my duty, sir. 

Glou. He did bewray his practice ; and received 
This hurt you see, striving to apprehend him. no 

Corn. Is he pursued ? 

Glou. Ay, my good lord. 

Corn. If he be taken, he shall never more 
Be fear'd of doing harm : make your own purpose. 
How in my strength you please. For you, Edmund, 
Whose virtue and obedience doth this instant 
So much commend itself, you shall be ours : 
Natures of such deep trust we shall much need ; 
You we first seize on. 

Edm. I shall serve you, sir, 

Truly, however else. 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 41 

Glou. For him I thank your grace. 

Corn. You know not why we came to visit 

you, — 120 

Reg. Thus out of season, threading dark-eyed 
night : 
Occasions, noble Gloucester, of some poise. 
Wherein we must have use of your advice : 
Our father he hath writ, so hath our sister, 
Of differences, which I least thought it fit 
To answer from our home ; the several messengers 
From hence attend dispatch. Our good old friend. 
Lay comforts to your bosom ; and bestow 
Your needful counsel to our business, 
Which craves the instant use. 

Glou. I serve you, madam : isc 

Your graces are right welcome. [Exeunt. 

Scene II — Before Gloucester's castle 
Enter Kent and Oswald, severally 

Osw. Good dawning to thee, friend : art of this 
house ? 

Kent. Ay. 

OsiD. Where may we set our horses ? 

Kent. V the mire. 

Osw. Prithee, if thou lovest me, tell me. 

Kent. I love thee not. 

Osw. Why, then, I care not for thee. 

Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury pinfold, I would 
make thee care for me. lo 

Osw. Why dost thou use me thus ? I know thee 
not. 

Kent. Fellow, I know thee. 



42 KING LEAR [Act Two 

Osw. What dost thou know me for ? 

Kent. A knave ; ^ rascal ; an eater of broken 
meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three- 
suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking 
knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave; a 
whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical 
rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that 20 
wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art 
nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, 
coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel 
bitch : one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, 
if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition. 

Osw. Why, what a monstrous fellow art thou, 
thus to rail on one that is neither known of thee nor 
knows thee ! 

Kent. What a brazen-faced varlet art thou, to 30 
deny thou knowest me ! Is it two days ago since 
I tripped up thy heels, and beat thee before the 
king ? Draw, you rogue : for, though it be night, 
yet the moon shines ; I '11 make a sop o' the moon- 
shine of you : draw, you whoreson cuUionly barber- 
monger, draw. [Drawing his sword. 

Osw. Away ! I have nothing to do with thee. 

Kent. Draw, you rascal : you come with letters 
against the king; and take vanity the puppet's 
part against the royalty of her father : draw, you 40 
rogue, or I '11 so carbonado your shanks : draw, 
you rascal ; come your ways. 

Osw. Help, ho ! murder ! help ! 

Kent. Strike, you slave; stand, rogue, stand; 
you neat slave, strike. [Beating him. 

Osw. Help, ho ! murder ! murder ! 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 43 

Enter Edmund with his rapier drawn, Cornwall, Regan, 
Gloucester, and Servants 

Edm. How now ! What 's the matter ? 

Kent. With you, goodman boy, an you please : 
come, I '11 flesh ye ; come on, young master. 

Glou. Weapons ! arms ! What 's the matter so 
here ? 

Corn. Keep peace, upon your lives : 
He dies that strikes again. What is the matter ? 

Reg. The messengers from our sisters and the 
king. 

Corn. What is your difference ? speak. 

Osw. I am scarce in breath, my lord. 

Kent. No marvel, you have so bestirred your 
valour. You cowardly rascal, nature disclaims in 
thee : a tailor made thee. 60 

Corn. Thou art a strange fellow : a tailor make a 
man.? 

Kent. Ay, a tailor, sir : a stone-cutter or a 
painter could not have made him so ill, though he 
had been but two hours at the trade. 

Corn. Speak yet, how grew your quarrel ? 

Osw. This ancient ruffian, sir, whose life I have 
spared at suit of his gray beard, — 

Kent. Thou whoreson zed ! thou unnecessary 
letter ! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will 70 
tread this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub 
the walls of a jakes with him. Spare my gray 
beard, you wagtail ? 

Corn. Peace, sirrah ! 
You beastly knave, know you no reverence ? 



44 KING LEAR [Act Two 

Kent. Yes, sir ; but anger hath a privilege. 

Corn. Why art thou angry ? 

Kent. That such a slave as this should wear a 
sword, 
Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as 

these. 
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords a-twain so 

Which are too intrinse t' unloose ; smooth every 

passion 
That in the natures of their lords rebel ; 
Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods ; 
Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks 
With every gale and vary of their masters, 
Knowing nought, like dogs, but following. 
A plague upon your epileptic visage ! 
Smile you my speeches, as I were a fool ^ 
Goose, if I had you upon Sarum plain, 
I 'Id drive ye cackling home to Camelot. 9o 

Corn. What, art thou mad, old fellow ? 

Glou. How fell you out ? say that. 

Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy 
Than I and such a knave. 

Corn. Why dost thou call him knave ? What 's 
his offence ^ 

Kent. His countenance likes me not. 

Corn, No more, perchance, does mine, nor his, 
nor hers. 

Kent. Sir, 't is my occupation to be plain : 
I have seen better faces in my time 
Than stands on any shoulder that I see loo 

Before me at this instant. 

Corn. This is some fellow. 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 45 

Who, having been praised for bluntness, doth affect 
A saucy roughness, and constrains the garb 
Quite from his nature : he cannot flatter, he. 
An honest mind and plain, he must speak truth ! 
An they will take it, so ; if not, he 's plain. 
These kind of knaves I know, which in this plain- 
ness 
Harbour more craft and more corrupter ends 
Than twenty silly ducking observants 
That stretch their duties nicely. no 

Kent. Sir, in good sooth, in sincere verity. 
Under the allowance of your great aspect. 
Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire 
On flickering Phoebus' front, — 

Corn. What mean'st by this .f^ 

Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you dis- 
commend so much. I know, sir, I am no flatterer : 
he that beguiled you in a plain accent was a plain 
knave ; which for my part I will not be, though I 
should win your displeasure to entreat me to 't. 120 

Corn. What was the offence you gave him ? 

Osiv. I never gave him any : 
It pleased the king his master very late 
To strike at me, upon his misconstruction ; 
When he, conjunct, and flattering his displeasure, 
Tripp'd me behind ; being down, insulted, rail'd, 
And put upon him such a deal of man. 
That worthied him, got praises of the king 
For him attempting who was self-subdued ; 
And, in the fleshment of this dread exploit, 130 

Drew on me here again. 

Kent. None of these rogues and cowards 



46 KING LEAR [Act Two 

But Ajax is their fool. 

Corn. Fetch forth the stocks ! 

You stubborn ancient knave, you reverent braggart. 
We '11 teach you — 

Kent. Sir, I am too old to learn : 

Call not your stocks for me : I serve the king ; 
On whose employment I was sent to you : 
You shall do small respect, show too bold malice 
Against the grace and person of my master. 
Stocking his messenger. 

Corn. Fetch forth the stocks ! As I have life 

and honour, . 140 

There shall he sit till noon. 

Reg. Till noon! till night, my lord; and all 
night too. 

Kent. Why, madam, if I were your father's dog, 
You should not use me so. 

Reg- Sir, being his knave, I will. 

Corn. This is a fellow of the self -same colour 
Our sister speaks of. Come, bring away the stocks ! 

[Stocks brought out. 

Glou. Let me beseech your grace not to do so : 
His fault is much, and the good king his master 
Will check him for 't : your purposed low correction 
Is such as basest and contemned'st wretches iso 

For pilferings and most common trespasses 
Are punish'd with : the king must take it ill. 
That he, so slightly valued in his messenger. 
Should have him thus restrain'd. 

Corn. I '11 answer that. 

Reg. My sister may receive it much more worse. 
To have her gentleman abused, assaulted, 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 47 

For following her affairs. Put in his legs. 

[Kent is put in the stocks. 
Come, my good lord, away. 

[Exeunt all but Gloucester and Kent. 
Glou. I am sorry for thee, friend ; 't is the * 
duke's pleasure. 
Whose disposition, all the world well knows, leo 

Will not be rubb'd nor stopp'd : I '11 entreat for 
thee. 
Kent. Pray, do not, sir : I have watched and 
travel!' d hard ; 
Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I '11 whistle. 
A good man's fortune may grow out at heels : 
Give you good morrow ! 

Glou. The duke 's to blame in this ; 't will be 
ill- taken. [Exit. 

Kent. Good king, that must approve the com- 
mon saw. 
Thou out of heaven's benediction comest 
To the warm sun ! 

Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, i70 

That by thy comfortable beams I may 
Peruse this letter ! Nothing almost sees miracles 
But misery : I know 't is from Cordelia, 
Who hath most fortunately been inform'd 
Of my obscured course ; and shall find time 
From this enormous state, seeking to give 
Losses their remedies. All weary and o'er-watch'd. 
Take vantage, heavy eyes, not to behold 
This shameful lodging. 
Fortune, good night : smile once more ; turn thy 

wheel ! [Sleeps, iso 



48 KING LEAR [Act Two 

Scene III — A wood 

Enter Edgar 

Edg. I heard myself proclaim'd ; 
And by the happy hollow of a tree 
Escaped the hunt. No port is free ; no place, 
That guard, and most unusual vigilance, 
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape, 
I will preserve myself : and am bethought 
To take the basest and most poorest shape 
That ever penury, in contempt of man, 
Brought near to beast : my face I '11 grime with 

filth: 
Blanket my loins ; elf all my hair in knots ; lo 

And with presented nakedness out-face 
The winds and persecutions of the sky. 
The country gives me proof and precedent 
Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices, 
Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms 
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary ; 
And with this horrible object, from low farms, 
Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills. 
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers. 
Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod ! poor Tom ! 20 
That 's something yet : Edgar I nothing am. [Exit. 

Scene IV — Before Gloucester's castle, Kent 
in the stocks 

Enter Lear, Fool, and Gentleman 

Lear. 'T is strange that they should so depart 
from home, 
And not send back my messenger. 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 49 

Gent. As I learn'd, 

The night before there was no purpose in them 
Of this remove. 

Kent. Hail to thee, noble master ! 

Lear. Ha ! 
Makest thou this shame thy pastime ? 

Kent. No, my lord. 

Fool. Ha, ha ! he wears cruel garters. Horses 
are tied by the heads, dogs and bears by the neck, 
monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs : when 
a man's over-lusty at legs, then he wears wooden lo 
nether-stocks. 

Lear. What 's he that hath so much thy place 
mistook 
To set thee here } 

Kent. It is both he and she ; 

Your son and daughter. 

Lear. No. 

Kent. Yes. 

Lear. No, I say. 

Kent. I say, yea. 

Lear. No, no, they would not. 

Kent. Yes, they have. 20 

Lear. By Jupiter, I swear, no. 

Kent. By Juno, I swear, ay. 

Lear. They durst not do 't ; 

They could not, would not do 't ; 't is worse than 

murder. 
To do upon respect such violent outrage : 
Resolve me, with all modest haste, which way 
Thou mightst deserve, or they impose, this usage. 
Coming from us. 



50 KING LEAR [Act Two 

Kent. My lord, when at their home 

I did commend your highness' letter to them, 
Ere I was risen from the place that show'd 
My duty kneeling, came there a reeking post, m 

Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forth 
From Goneril his mistress salutations ; 
Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission. 
Which presently they read : on whose contents. 
They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse ; 
Commanded me to follow, and attend 
The leisure of their answer ; gave me cold looks : 
And meeting here the other messenger. 
Whose welcome, I perceived, had poison'd mine, — 
Being the very fellow that of late 40 

Display'd so saucily against your highness, — 
Having more man than wit about me, drew : 
He raised the house with loud and coward cries. 
Your son and daughter found this trespass worth 
The shame which here it suffers. 

Fool. Winter 's not gone yet, if the wild-geese 
fly that way. 

Fathers that wear rags 

Do make their children blind ; 

But fathers that bear bags 50 

Shall see their children kind. 

Fortune, that arrant whore. 

Ne'er turns the key to the poor. 
But, for all this, thou shalt have as many dolours for 
thy daughters as thou canst tell in a year. 

Lear. O, how this mother swells up toward my 

heart ! 
Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow. 



Scene Fouk] KING LEAR 51 

Thy element 's below ! Where is this daughter ? 
Kent. With the earl, sir, here within. 
Lear. Follow me not ; 

Stay here. [Exit. 60 

Gent. Made you no more offence but what you 
speak of ? 

Kent. None. 
How chance the king comes with so small a train ? 
Foci. An thou hadst been set i' the stocks for 
that question, thou hadst well deserved it. 
Kent. Why, fool.? 

Fool. We '11 set thee to school to an ant, to 
teach thee there 's no labouring i' the winter. All 
that follow their noses are led by their eyes but70 
blind men ; and there 's not a nose among twenty 
but can smell him that 's stinking. Let go thy hold 
when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break 
thy neck with following it ; but the great one that 
goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. When a 
wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine 
again : I would have none but knaves follow it, 
since a fool gives it. 

That sir which serves and seeks for gain, 

And follows but for form, 80 

Will pack when it begins to rain, 

And leave thee in the storm. 
But I will tarry ; the fool will stay. 

And let the wise man fly : 
The knave turns fool that runs away ; 
The fool no knave, perdy. 
Kent. Where learned you this, fool ^ 
Fool. Not i' the stocks, fool. 



52 KING LEAR [Act Two 

Re-enter Lear, with Gloucester 

Lear. Deny to speak with me ? They are sick ? 
they are weary ? 
They have travell'd all the night ? Mere fetches ; 90 
The images of revolt and flying off. 
Fetch me a better answer. 

Glou. My dear lord, 

You know the fiery quality of the duke ; 
How unremoveable and fix'd he is 
In his own course. 

Lear. Vengeance ! plague ! death ! confusion ! 
Fiery.? what quality.? Why, Gloucester, Glouces- 
ter, 
I 'Id speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife. 

Glou. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them 
so. 

Lear. Inform'd them ! Dost thou understand 

me, man? loo 

Glou. Ay, my good lord. 

Lear. The king would speak with Cornwall ; the 
dear father 
Would with his daughter speak, commands her 

service : 
Are they inform'd of this .? My breath and blood ! 
Fiery .? the fiery duke .? Tell the hot duke that — 
No, but not yet : may be he is not well : 
Infirmity doth still neglect all office 
Whereto our health is bound ; we are not ourselves 
When nature, being oppress'd, commands the mind 
To suffer with the body : I '11 forbear ; no 

And am fall'n out with my more headier will, 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 53 

To take the indisposed and sickly fit 
For the sound man. Death on my state ! where- 
fore [Looking on Kent. 
Should he sit here ? This act persuades me 
That this remotion of the duke and her 
Is practice only. Give me my servant forth. 
Go tell the duke and 's wife I 'Id speak with them, 
Now, presently : bid them come forth and hear me, 
Or at their chamber-door I '11 beat the drum 
Till it cry sleep to death. 120 

Glou. I would have all well betwixt you. [Exit. 

Lear. O me, my heart, my rising heart ! but, 
down ! 

Fool. Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to 
the eels when she put 'em i' the paste alive; 
she knapped 'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, 
and cried " Down, wantons, down !" 'T was her 
brother that, in pure kindness to his horse, but- 
tered his hay. 

Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, and Servants 

Lear, Good morrow to you both. 
Corn. Hail to your grace ! 

[Kent is set at liberty. 
Reg. I am glad to see your highness. iso 

Lear. Regan, I think you are; I know what 
reason 
I have to think so : if thou shouldst not be glad, 
I would divorce me from thy mother's tomb, 
Sepulchring an adul tress. [To Kent] O, are you 

free? 
Some other time for that. Beloved Regan, 



54 ' KING LEAR [Act Two 

Thy sister 's naught : O Regan, she hath tied 
Sharp-tooth' d unkindness, Hke a vulture, here : 

[Points to his heart. 
I can scarce speak to thee ; thou 'It not beheve 
With how depraved a quahty — O Regan ! 

Reg. I pray you, sir, take patience : I have hope i40 
You less know how to value her desert 
Than she to scant her duty. 

Lear. Say, how is that? 

Reg. I cannot think my sister in the least 
Would fail her obligation : if, sir, perchance 
She have restrain' d the riots of your followers, 
'T is on such ground, and to such wholesome end, 
As clears her from all blame. 

Lear. My curses on her ! 

Reg. O, sir, you are old ; 

Nature in you stands on the very verge 
Of her confine : you should be ruled and led iso 

By some discretion, that discerns your state 
Better than you yourself. Therefore, I pray you. 
That to our sister you do make return ; 
Say you have wrong'd her, sir. 

Lear. Ask her forgiveness ? 

Do you but mark how this becomes the house : 
"Dear daughter, I confess that I am old; [Kneeling. 
Age is unnecessary : on my knees I beg 
That you '11 vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food." 

Reg. Good sir, no more; these are unsightly 
tricks : 
Return you to my sister. 

Lear. [Rising] Never, Regan : leo 

She hath abated me of half my train ; 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 55 

Look'd black upon me ; struck me with her tongue 

Most serpent-like, upon the very heart : 

All the stored vengeances of heaven fall 

On her ingrateful top ! Strike her young bones, 

You taking airs, with lameness ! 

Corn. Fie, sir, fie ! 

Lear. You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding 
flames 
Into her scornful eyes ! Infect her beauty. 
You fen-suck' d fogs, drawn by the powerful sun. 
To fall and blast her pride ! 170 

Reg. O the blest gods ! so will you wish on 
me. 
When the rash mood is on. 

Lear. No, Regan, thou shalt never have my 
curse : 
Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give 
Thee o'er to harshness : her eyes are fierce ; but 

thine 
Do comfort and not burn. 'T is not in thee 
To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, 
To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes, 
And in conclusion to oppose the bolt 
Against my coming in : thou better know'st iso 

The offices of nature, bond of childhood. 
Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude ; 
Thy half o' the kingdom hast thou not forgot, 
Wherein I thee endow' d. 

Reg. Good sir, to the purpose. 

Lear. Who put my man i' the stocks ? 

[Tucket within. 

Corn. What trumpet 's that ? 



5Q KING LEAR [Act Two 

Reg. I know 't, my sister's : this approves her 
letter, 
That she would soon be here. 

Enter Oswald 

Is your lady come ? 
Lear. This is a slave, whose easy-borrow'd pride 
Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows. 
Out, varlet, from my sight ! 

Corn. What means your grace ? i^^o 

Lear. Who stock'd my servant .^^ Regan, I 
have good hope 
Thou didst not know on 't. Who comes here ? 
O heavens, 

. Enter Goneril 

If you do love old men, if your sweet sway 
Allow obedience, if yourselves are old. 
Make it your cause ; send down, and take my part ! 
[To Gon.] Art not ashamed to look upon this 

beard ? 
O Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand ? 

Gon. Why not by the hand, sir.^^ How have I 
offended ? 
All 's not offence that indiscretion finds 
And dotage terms so. 

Lear. O sides, you are too tough ; 200 

Will you yet hold.^^ How came my man i' the 
stocks ? 

Corn. I set him there, sir : but his own disorders 
Deserved much less advancement. 

Lear. You ! did you ? 

Reg. I pray you, father, being ^eak, seem so. 



Scene Four] KING LEAE 57 

If, till the expiration of your month, 
You will return and sojourn with my sister. 
Dismissing half your train, come then to me : 
I am now from home, and out of that provision 
Which shall be needful for your entertainment. 

Lear. Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd ? 210 
No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose 
To wage against the enmity o' the air ; 
To be a comrade with the wolf and owl, — 
Necessity's sharp pinch ! Return with her ? 
Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took 
Our youngest born, I could as well be brought 
To knee his throne, and, squire-like, pension beg 
To keep base life afoot. Return with her ^ 
Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter 
To this detested groom. [Pointing at Oswald. 

Gon. At your choice, sir. 220 

Lear. I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad : 
I will not trouble thee, my child ; farewell : 
We '11 no more meet, no more see one another : 
But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter ; 
Or rather a disease that 's in my flesh. 
Which I must needs call mine : thou art a boil, 
A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle. 
In my corrupted blood. But I '11 not chide thee ; 
Let shame come when it will, I do not call it : 
I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot, 230 

Nor tell tales of thee to high- judging Jove : 
Mend when thou canst ; be better at thy leisure : 
I can be patient ; I can stay with Regan, 
I and my hundred knights. 

Reg. Not altogether so : 



58 KING LEAR [Act Two 

I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided 
For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister ; 
For those that mingle reason with your passion 
Must be content to think you old, and so — 
But she knows what she does. 

Lear. Is this well spoken ? 

Reg. I dare avouch it, sir : what, fifty followers ? 240 
Is it not well .? What should you need of more ? 
Yea, or so many, sith that both charge and danger 
Speak 'gainst so great a number? How, in one 

house. 
Should many people, under two commands. 
Hold amity ? 'T is hard ; almost impossible. 

Gon, Why might not you, my lord, receive 
attendance 
From those that she calls servants or from mine ? 

Reg. Why not, my lord .^ If then they chanced 
to slack you. 
We could control them. If you will come to me, — 
For now I spy a danger, — I entreat you 26O 

To bring but five-and-twenty : to no more 
Will I give place or notice. 

Lear. I gave you all — 

Reg. And in good time you gave it. 

Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries ; 
But kept a reservation to be followed 
With such a number. What, must I come to you 
With five-and-twenty, Regan ? said you so .? 

Reg. And speak 't again, my lord ; no more with 
me. 

Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well- 
favour'd, 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 59 

When others are more wicked ; not being the worst 260 
Stands in some rank of praise. [To Gon.] I '11 go 

with thee : 
Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty, 
And thou art twice her love. 

Gon. Hear me, my lord : 

What need you five-and-twenty, ten, or five, 
To follow in a house where twice so many 
Have a command to tend you ? 

Reg, What need one ? 

Lear. O, reason not the need : our basest 
beggars 
Are in the poorest thing superfluous : 
Allow not nature more than nature needs, 
Man's life 's as cheap as beast's : thou art a lady ; 270 
If only to go warm were gorgeous. 
Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, 
Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true 

need, — 
You heavens, give me that patience, patience I 

need ! 
You see me here, you gods, a poor old man, 
As full of grief as age ; wretched in both ! 
If it be you that stirs these daughters' hearts 
Against their father, fool me not so much 
To bear it tamely ; touch me with noble anger. 
And let not women's weapons, water-drops, 28O 

Stain my man's cheeks ! No, you unnatural hags, 
I will have such revenges on you both, 
That all the world shall — I will do such things, — 
What they are, yet I know not ; but they shall be 
The terrors of the earth. You think I '11 weep ; 



60 KING LEAR [Act Three 

No, I '11 not weep : 

I have full cause of weeping ; but this heart 
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws, 
Or ere I '11 weep. O fool, I shall go mad ! 

[Exeunt Lear, Gloucester, Kent, and Fool. 
Storm and tempest. 
Corn. Let us withdraw ; 't will be a storm. 290 

Reg. This house is little : the old man and his 
people 
Cannot be well bestow'd. 

Gon. 'T is his own blame ; hath put himself 
from rest. 
And must needs taste his folly. 

Reg. For his particular, I '11 receive him gladly. 
But not one follower. 

Gon. So am I purposed. 

Where is my lord of Gloucester ? 

Corn. Follow'd the old man forth : he is re- 
turn'd. 

Re-enter Gloucester 

Glou. The king is in high rage. 

Corn. Whither is he going ? 

Glou. He calls to horse; but will I know not 

whither. soo 

Corn. 'T is best to give him way ; he leads 

himself. 
Gon. My lord, entreat him by no means to stay. 
Glou. Alack, the night comes on, and the bleak 

winds 
Do sorely ruffle ; for many miles about 
There 's scarce a bush. 



SosNE One] KING LEAR 61 

Reg. O, sir, to wilful men, 

The injuries that they themselves procure 
Must be their schoolmasters. Shut up your doors. 
He is attended with a desperate train ; 
And what they may incense him to, being apt 
To have his ear abused, wisdom bids fear. 3io 

Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord ; 't is a wild 
night : 
My Regan counsels well : come out o' the storm. 

[Exeunt 



ACT III 

Scene I — A heath 
Storm still. Enter Kent and a Gentleman, meeting 

Kent. Who 's there, besides foul weather ? 

Gent. One minded like the weather, most un- 
unquietly. 

Kent. I know you. Where 's the king ? 

Gent. Contending with the fretful element; 
Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea. 
Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main. 
That things might change or cease ; tears his white 

hair. 
Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage. 
Catch in their fury, and make nothing of ; 
Strives in his little world of man to out-scorn lo 

The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain. 
This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would 

couch. 
The lion and the belly-pinched wolf 



m KING LEAR [Act Three 

Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs. 
And bids what will take all. 

Kent. But who is with him ? 

Gent. None but the fool; who labours to out- 
jest 
His heart-struck injuries. 

Kent. Sir, I do know you ; 

And dare, upon the warrant of my note. 
Commend a dear thing to you. There is division. 
Although as yet the face of it be cover'd 20 

With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Corn- 
wall; 
Who have — as who have not, that their great stars 
Throned and set high ? — servants, who seem no 

less. 
Which are to France the spies and speculations 
Intelligent of our state ; what hath been seen, 
Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes. 
Or the hard rein which both of them have borne 
Against the old kind king ; or something deeper. 
Whereof perchance these are but furnishings ; 
But, true it is, from France there comes a power so 
Into this scatter'd kingdom ; who already. 
Wise in our negligence, have secret feet 
In some of our best ports, and are at point 
To show their open banner. Now to you : 
If on my credit you dare build so far 
To make your speed to Dover, you shall find 
Some that will thank you, making just report 
Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow 
The king hath cause to plain. 
I am a gentleman of blood and breeding ; 40 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 63 

And, from some knowledge and assurance, offer 
This office to you. 

Gent. I will talk further with you. 
. Kent. No, do not. 

For confirmation that I am much more 
Than my out-wall, open this purse, and take 
What it contains. If you shall see Cordelia, — 
As fear not but you shall, — show her this ring ; 
And she will tell you who your fellow is 
That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm ! 
I will go seek the king. 50 

Gent. Give me your hand : have you no more to 

say.? 
Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all 
yet; 
That, when we have found the king, — in which 

your pain 
That way, I '11 this, — he that first lights on him 
Holla the other. [E±eunt severally. 

Scene II — Another part of the heath. Storm still 
Enter Lear and Fool 

Lear. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks ! 

rage ! blow ! 
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout 
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the 

cocks ! 
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, 
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts. 
Singe my white head ! And thou, all-shaking 

thunder. 



64 KING LEAR [Act Three 

Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world ! 
Crack nature's moulds, all germens spill at once, 
That make ingratef ul man ! 

Fool. O nuncle, court holy- water in a dryio 
house is better than this rain-water out o' door. 
Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' bless- 
ing : here 's a night pities neither wise man nor 
fool. 

Lear, Rumble thy bellyful ! Spit, fire ! spout, 
rain ! 
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters : 
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness ; 
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children. 
You owe me no subscription : then let fall 
Your horrible pleasure ; here I stand, your slave, 
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man : 20 

But yet I call you servile ministers. 
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd 
Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head 
So old and white as this. O ! O ! 't is foul ! 

Fool. He that has a house to put 's head in has 
a good head-piece. 

The cod-piece that will house 

Before the head has any. 
The head and he shall louse ; 

So beggars marry many. 30 

The man that makes his toe 

What he his heart should make 
Shall of a corn cry woe. 

And turn his sleep to wake. 
For there was never yet fair woman but she made 
mouths in a glass. 



Scene Two] KING LEAR, 65 

Lear. No, I will be the pattern of all patience ; I 
will say nothing. 

Enter Kent 

Kent. Who 's there ? 

Fool. Marry, here 's grace and a cod-piece ; 40 
that 's a wise man and a fool. 

Kent. Alas, sir, are you here? things that love 
night 
Love not such nights as these ; the wrathful skies 
Gallow the very wanderers of the dark. 
And make them keep their caves : since I was man. 
Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, 
Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never 
Remember to have heard : man's nature cannot 

carry 
The affliction nor the fear. 

Lear. Let the great gods. 

That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads, 50 

Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou 

wretch. 
That hast within thee undivulged crimes, 
Unwhipp'd of justice : hide thee, thou bloody 

hand; 
Thou perjured, and thou simular man of virtue 
That are incestuous : caitiff, to pieces shake, 
That under covert and convenient seeming 
Hast practised on man's life : close pent-up guilts 
Rive your concealing continents, and cry 
These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man 
More sinn'd against than sinning. 

Kent. Alack, bare-headed ! 60 

Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel ; 



66 KING LEAR [Act Three 

Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tem- 
pest : 
Repose you there ; while I to this hard house — 
More harder than the stones whereof 't is raised ; 
Which even but now, demanding after you, 
Denied me to come in — return, and force 
Their scanted courtesy. 

Lear. My wits begin to turn. 

Come on, my boy : how dost, my boy "? art cold ? 
I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow .? 
The art of our necessities is strange, 70 

That can make vile things precious. Come, your 

hovel. 
Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart 
That 's sorry yet for thee. 

Fool. [Singing] He that has and a little tiny wit, — 
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, — 
Must make content with his fortunes fit. 
For the rain it raineth every day. 

Lear. True, my good boy. Come, bring us to 
this hovel. [Exeunt Lear and Kent. 

Fool. This is a brave night to cool a courtezan. 
I '11 speak a prophecy ere I go : so 

When priests are more in word than matter ; 

When brewers mar their malt with water ; 

When nobles are their tailors' tutors ; 

No heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors ; 

When every case in law is right ; 

No squire in debt, nor no poor knight ; 

When slanders do not live in tongues ; 

Nor cutpurses come not to throngs ; 

When usurers tell their gold i' the field ; 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 67 

And bawds and whores do churches build ; 9o 

Then shall the realm of Albion 
Come to great confusion : 
Then comes the time, who lives to see 't. 
That going shall be used with feet. 
This prophecy Merlin shall make ; for I live before 
his time. [Exit. 

Scene III — Gloucester's castle 
Enter Gloucester and Edmund 

Glou. Alack, alack, Edmund, I like not this 
unnatural dealing. When I desired their leave that 
I might pity him, they took from me the use of 
mine own house ; charged me, on pain of their 
perpetual displeasure, neither to speak of him, 
entreat for him, nor any way sustain him. 

Edm. Most savage and unnatural ! 

Glou. Go to ; say you nothing. There 's a 
division betwixt the dukes ; and a worse matter 
than that : I have received a letter this night ; 't is lo 
dangerous to be spoken; I have locked the letter 
in my closet : these injuries the king now bears will 
be revenged home ; there 's part of a power already 
footed : we must incline to the king. I will seek 
him, and privily relieve him : go you and maintain 
talk with the duke, that my charity be not of him 
perceived : if he ask for me, I am ill, and gone to 
bed. Though I die for it, as no less is threatened 
me, the king my old master must be relieved. 
There is some strange thing toward, Edmund ; pray 20 
you, be careful. [Exit. 



68 KING LEAK [Act Three 

Edm. This courtesy, forbid thee, shall the duke 
Instantly know ; and of that letter too : 
This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me 
That which my father loses ; no less than all : 
The younger rises when the old doth fall. [Exit 

Scene IV — The heath. Before a hovel 
Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool 

Kent. Here is the place, my lord; good my 
lord, enter : 
The tyranny of the open night 's too rough 
For nature to endure. [Storm still. 

Lear. Let me alone. 

Kent. Good my lord, enter here. 

Lear. Wilt break my heart ? 

Kent. I had rather break mine own. Good my 
lord, enter. 

Lear. Thou think'st 't is much that this con- 
tentious storm 
Invades us to the skin : so 't is to thee ; 
But where the greater malady is fixed. 
The lesser is scarce felt. Thou 'Idst shun a bear ; 
But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea, lo 

Thou 'Idst meet the bear i' the mouth. When the 

mind 's free, 
The body 's delicate : the tempest in my mind 
Doth from my senses take all feeling else 
Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude ! 
Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand 
For lifting food to 't .^ But I will punish home : 
No, I will weep no more. In such a night 



Scene Four] KING LEAH 69 

To shut me out ! Pour on ; I will endure. 
In such a night as this ! O Regan, Goneril ! 
Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave 

all, — 20 

O, that way madness lies ; let me shun that ; 
No more of that. 

Kent. Good my lord, enter here. 

Lear. Prithee, go in thyself; seek thine own 
ease : 
This tempest will not give me leave to ponder 
On things would hurt me more. But I '11 go in. 
[To the Fool] In, boy; go first. You houseless 

poverty, — 
Nay, get thee in. I '11 pray, and then I '11 sleep. 

[Fool goes, in. 
Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are, 
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm. 
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, so 
Your loop'd and window' d raggedness, defend 

you 
From seasons such as these ? O, I have ta'en 
Too little care of this ! Take physic, pomp ; 
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel. 
That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, 
And show the heavens more just. 

Edg. [Within] Fathom and half, fathom and half ! 
Poor Tom ! [The Fool runs out from the hovel. 

Fool. Come not in here, nuncle, here 's a spirit. 
Help me, help me ! 4o 

Kent. Give me thy hand. Who 's there ? 

Fool. A spirit, a spirit : he says his name 's 
poor Tom. 



70 KING LEAR [Act Three 

Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i' 
the straw? Come forth. 

Enter Edgar disguised as a madman 

Edg. Away ! the foul fiend follows me ! 
Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind. 
Hum ! go to thy cold bed, and warm thee. 

Lear. Hast thou given all to thy two daughters ? 
And art thou come to this ? 50 

Edg. Who gives any thing to poor Tom ? whom 
the foul fiend hath led through fire and through 
flame, through ford and whirlpool, o'er bog and 
quagmire; that hath laid knives under his pillow, 
and halters in his pew ; set ratsbane by his porridge ; 
made him proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting- 
horse over four-inched bridges, to course his own 
shadow for a traitor. Bless they five wits ! Tom 's 
a-cold, — O, do de, do de, do de. Bless thee from 60 
whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking ! Do poor 
Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes : 
there could I have him now, — and there, — and 
there again, and there. [Storm still. 

Lear. What, have his daughters brought him 
to this pass ? 
Couldst thou save nothing ? Didst thou give them 
all.? 

Fool. Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had 
been all shamed. 

Lear. Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous 
air 
Hang fated o'er men's faults light on thy daughters ! 70 

Kent. He hath no daughters, sir. 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 71 

Lear. Death, traitor ! nothing could have sub- 
dued nature 
To such a lowness but his unkind daughters. 
Is it the fashion that discarded fathers 
Should have thus httle mercy on their flesh ? 
Judicious punishment ! 't was this flesh begot 
Those pehcan daughters. 

Edg. Pilhcock sat on Pilhcock-hill : 
Halloo, halloo, loo, loo ! 

Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and so 
madmen. 

Edg. Take heed o' the foul fiend : obey thy 
parents ; keep thy word justly ; swear not ; com- 
mit not with man's sworn spouse ; set not thy sweet 
heart on proud array. Tom 's a-cold. 

Lear. What hast thou been ? 

Edg. A serving-man, proud in heart and mind ; 
that curled my hair ; wore gloves in my cap ; served 
the lust of my mistress' heart, and did the act of 
darkness with her ; swore as many oaths as I spake 90 
words, and broke them in the sweet face of heaven : 
one that slept in the contriving of lust, and waked 
to do it : wine loved I deeply, dice dearly ; and in 
woman out-paramoured the Turk : false of heart, 
light of ear, bloody of hand; hog in sloth, fox in 
.stealth, wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in 
prey. Let not the creaking of shoes nor the rus- 
tling of silks betray thy poor heart to woman : keep 
thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets. 100 
thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul fienvl. 
Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind ; 
Says suum, mun, ha, no, nonny. 



72 KING LEAK [Act Three 

Dolphin my boy, my boy, sessa ! let him trot by. 

[Storm still. 

Lear. Why, thou wert better in thy grave than 
to answer with thy uncovered body this extremity 
of the skies. Is man no more than this ? Consider 
him well. Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast 
no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. 
Ha ! here 's three on 's are sophisticated ! Thou no 
art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no 
more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as 
thou art. Off, off, you lendings ! come, unbutton 
here. [Tearing off his clothes. 

Fool. Prithee, nuncle, be contented ; 't is a 
naughty night to swim in. Now a little fire in a 
wild field were like an old lecher's heart ; a small 
spark, all the rest on's body cold. Look, here 
comes a walking fire. 

Enter Gloucester, with a torch 

Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet : he 120 
begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock ; he 
gives the web and the pin, squints the eye, and 
makes the hare-lip ; mildews the white wheat, and 
hurts the poor creature of earth. 

S. Withold footed thrice the old ; 
He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold ; 
Bid her alight. 
And her troth plight, 
And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee ! 
Kent. How fares your grace ? 130 

Lear. What 's he.^ 
Kent. Who 's there? What is 't you seek? 



Scene Four] KING LEAR 73 

Glou. What are you there ? Your names ? 

Edg. Poor Tom ; that eats the swimming frog, 
the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt and the water ; 
that in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend 
rages, eats cow-dung for sallets ; swallows the old 
rat and the ditch-dog; drinks the green mantle of 
the standing-pool ; who is whipped from tithing to 140 
tithing, and stock-punished, and imprisoned ; who 
hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his 
body, horse to ride, and weapon to wear ; 
But mice and rats, and such small deer, 
Have been Tom's food for seven long year. 
Beware my follower. Peace, Smulkin ; peace, 
thou fiend ! 

Glou. What, hath your grace no better com- 
pany? 

Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman : 
Modo he 's call'd, and Mahu. 

Glou. Our flesh and blood is grown so vile, my 

lord, 15C 

That it doth hate what gets it. 

Edg. Poor Tom 's a-cold. 

Glou. Go in with me : my duty cannot suffer 
To obey in all your daughters' hard commands : 
Though their injunction be to bar my doors. 
And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you, 
Yet have I ventured to come seek you out. 
And bring you where both fire and food is ready. 

Lear. First let me talk with this philosopher. 
What is the cause of thunder ? leo 

Kent. Good my lord, take his offer ; go into the 
house. 



74 KING LEAE [Act Three 

LeaTo I 11 talk a word with this same learned 
Theban. 
What is your study ? 

Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill ver- 
min. 

Lear. Let me ask you one word in private. 

Kent, Importune him once more to go, my lord ; 
His wits begin to unsettle. 

Glou. Canst thou blame him .? [Storm still. 

His daughters seek his death ; ah, that good Kent ! 
He said it would be thus, poor banish'd man ! 
Thou say'st the king grows mad; I '11 tell thee, 

friend, i70 

I am almost mad myself : I had a son. 
Now outlaw'd from my blood ; he sought my life, 
But lately, very late : I loved him, friend ; 
No father his son dearer : truth to tell thee. 
The grief hath crazed my wits. What a night's 

this! 
I do beseech your grace, — 

Lear. O, cry you mercy, sir. 

Noble philosopher, your company. 

Edg. Tom 's a-cold. 

GUu. In, fellow, there, into the hovel : keep thee 
warm. 

Lear. Come, let 's in all. 

Kent. This way, my lord. 

Lear. With him ; iso 

I will keep still with my philosopher. 

Kent. Good my lord, soothe him ; let him take 
the fellow. 

Glou. Take him you on. 



Scene Five] KING LEAK 75 

Kent. Sirrah, come on ; go along with us. 
Lear. Come, good Athenian. 
Glou. No words, no words : hush. 
Edg. Child Rowland to the dark tower came. 
His word was still, — Fie, foh, and fum, 

I smell the blood of a British man. [Exeunt, 

Scene V — Gloucester's castle 
Enter Cornwall and Edmund 

Corn. I will have my revenge ere I depart his 
house. 

Edm. How, my lord, I may be censured, that 
nature thus gives way to loyalty, something fears 
me to think of. 

Corn. I now perceive, it was not altogether 
your brother's evil disposition made him seek his 
death ; but a provoking merit, set a- work by a re- 
proveable badness in himself. 

Edm. How malicious is my fortune, that I must lo 
repent to be just ! This is the letter he spoke of, 
which approves him an intelligent party to the ad- 
vantages of France. O heavens ! that this treason 
were not, or not I the detector ! 

Corn. Go with me to the duchess. 

Edm. If the matter of this paper be certain, you 
have mighty business in hand. 

Corn. True or false, it hath made thee Earl of 
Gloucester. Seek out where thy father is, that he 
may be ready for our apprehension. 20 

Edm. [Aside] If I find him comforting the 
king, it will stuff his suspicion more fully. — I will 



76 KING LEAR [Act Three 

persevere in my course of loyalty, though the con- 
flict be sore between that and my blood. 

Corn. I will lay trust upon thee ; and thou shalt 
find a dearer father in my love. . [Exeunt. 

Scene VI — A chamber in a farmhouse adjoin- 
ing the castle 

Enter Gloucester, Lear, Kent, Fool, and Edgar 

Glou, Here is better than the open air ; take it 
thankfully. I will piece out the comfort with what 
addition I can ; I will not be long from you. 

Kent. All the power of his wits have given 
sway to his impatience: the gods reward your 
kindness ! [Exit Gloucester, 

Edg. Frateretto calls me; and tells me Nero 
is an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, inno- 
cent, and beware the foul fiend. 

Fool. Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a mad-io 
man be a gentleman or a yeoman ? 

Lear. A king, a king ! 

Fool. No, he 's a yeoman that has a gentleman 
to his son; for he 's a mad yeoman that sees his 
son a gentleman before him. 

Lear. To have a thousand with red burning spits 
Come hissing in upon 'em, — 

Edg. The foul fiend bites my back. 

Fool. He 's mad that trusts in the tameness of a 
wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's 20 
oath. 

Lear. It shall be done; I will arraign them 
straight. 



Scene Six] KING LEAR 77 

[To Edgar] Come, sit thou here, most learned 

justicer ; 
[To the Fool] Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, 
you she foxes ! 
Edg. Look, where he stands and glares ! Want- 
est thou eyes at trial, madam ? 

Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me, — 
Fool. Her boat hath a leak, 

And she must not speak 
Why she dares not come over to thee. 39 
Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the 
voice of a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's 
belly for two white herring. Croak not, black 
angel ; I have no food for thee. 

Kent. How do you, sir.^ Stand you not so 
amazed : 
Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions ? 
Lear. I '11 see their trial first. Bring in the 
evidence. 
[To Edgar] Thou robed man of justice, take thy 

place ; 
[To the Fool] And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity. 
Bench by his side: [To Kent] you are o' the com- 
mission, 40 
Sit you too. 

Edg. Let us deal justly. 

Sleepest or wakes t thou, jolly shepherd ? 

Thy sheep be in the corn ; 
And for one blast of thy minikin mouth. 
Thy sheep shall take no harm. 
Pm* ! the cat is gray. 

Lear. Arraign her first ; 't is Goneril. I here 



78 KING LEAR [Act Three 

take my oath before this honourable assembly, she 
kicked the poor king her father. 50 

Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name 
Goneril ? 
Lear. She cannot deny it. 

Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint- 
stool. 
Lear, And here's another, whose warp'd looks 
proclaim 
What store her heart is made on. Stop her 

there ! 
Arms, arms, sword, fire ! Corruption in the place ! 
False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape ? 

Edg. Bless thy five wits ! 6o 

Kent. O pity ! Sir, where is the patience now, 
That you so oft have boasted to retain ? 

Edg. [Aside] My tears begin to take his part 
so much. 
They '11 mar my counterfeiting. 
Lear. The little dogs and all, 
Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at 
me. 
Edg. Tom will throw his head at them. Avaunt, 
you curs ! 

Be thy mouth or black or white, 

Tooth that poisons if it bite ; 7o 

Mastijff, greyhound, mongrel grim. 

Hound or spaniel, brach or lym, 

Or bobtail tike or trundle-tail, 

Tom will make them weep and wail : 

For, with throwing thus my head, 

Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled. 



Sf:ENE Six] KING LEAR 79 

Do de, de, de. Sessa ! Come, march to wakes and 
fairs and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is 
dry. 

Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan; see so; 
what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause 
in nature that makes these hard hearts? [To 
Edgar] You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred ; 
only I do not like the fashion of your garments : 
you will say they are Persian attire ; but let them 
be changed. 

Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here and rest 
awhile. 

Lear. Make no noise, make no noise ; draw the 
curtains : so, so, so. We '11 go to supper i' the 90 
morning. So, so, so. 

Fool. And I '11 go to bed at noon. 

Re-enter Gloucester 

GloiA. Come hither, friend: where is the king 

my master .? 
Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits 

are gone. 
Glou. Good friend, I prithee, take him in thy 
arms; 
I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him : 
There is a litter ready ; lay him in 't. 
And drive towards Dover, friend, where thou shall 

meet 
Both welcome and protection. Take up thy 

master : 
If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life, lOO 

With thine, and all that offer to defend him, 



80 KING LEAR [Act Three 

Stand in assured loss : take up, take up ; 
And follow me, that will to some provision 
Give thee quick conduct. 

Kent. Oppressed nature sleeps : 

This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken 

sinews. 
Which, if convenience will not allow. 
Stand in hard cure. [To the Fool] Come, help to 

bear thy master : 
Thou must not stay behind. 

Glou. Come, come, away. 

1 [Exeunt all hut Edgar. 

Edg. When we our betters see bearing our 

woes. 
We scarcely think our miseries our foes. no 

Who alone suffers suffers most i' the mind, 
Leaving free things and happy shows behind : 
But then the mind much sufferance doth 

o'erskip 
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellow- 
ship. ■ 
How light and portable my pain seems now, 
When that which makes me bend makes the king 

bow; 
He childed as I father'd ! Tom, away ! 
Mark the high noises, and thyself bewray 
When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles 

thee. 
In thy just proof repeals and reconciles thee. 120 

What will hap more to-night, safe 'scape the 

king ! 
Lurk, lurk. [Exii, 



Scene Seven] KING LEAR 81 

Scene VII — Gloucester's castle 

Enter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, Edmund, 
and Servants 

Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband; 
show him this letter : the army of France is landed. 
Seek out the villain Gloucester. 

[Exeunt some of the Servants. 

Reg. Hang him instantly. 

Gon. Pluck out his eyes. 

Corn. Leave him to my displeasure. Edmund, 
keep you our sister company : the revenges we are 
bound to take upon your traitorous father are not 
fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, where 
you are going, to a most festinate preparation : lo 
we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift 
and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister: 
farewell, my lord of Gloucester. 

Enter Oswald 

How now ! where 's the king ? 

Osw. My lord of Gloucester hath convey'd him 
hence : 
Some ^we or six and thirty of his knights. 
Hot questrists after him, met him at gate ; 
Who, with some other of the lords dependants. 
Are gone with him towards Dover ; where they boast 
To have well-armed friends. 

Corn. Get horses for your mistress. 20 

Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister. 

Corn. Edmund, farewell. 

{Exeunt Goneril, Edmund, and Oswald. 



82 KING LEAR [Act Three 

Go seek the traitor Gloucester, 
Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us. 

[Exeunt other Servants. 
Though well we may not pass upon his life 
Without the form of justice, yet our power 
Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men 
May blame, but not control. Who 's there? the 
traitor ? 

Enter Gloucester, brought in by two or three 

Reg. Ingrateful fox ! 't is he. 

Corn. Bind fast his corky arms. 

Glou. What mean your graces? Good rhy 

friends, consider so 

You are my guests : do me no foul play, friends. 

Corn. Bind him, I say. [Servants bind him. 

Reg. Hard, hard. O filthy traitor ! 

Glou. Unmerciful lady as you are, I'm none. 

Corn. To this chair bind him. Villain, thou 
shalt find — [Regan plucks his beard. 

Glou. By the kind gods, 't is most ignobly done 
To pluck me by the beard. 

Reg. So white, and such a traitor ! 

Glou. Naughty lady, 

These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin. 
Will quicken, and accuse thee : I am your host : 
With robbers' hands my hospitable favours 40 

You should not ruflie thus. What will you do ? 

Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from 
France ? 

Reg. Be simple answerer, for we know the 
truth. 



Scene Seven] KING LEAR 83 

Corn. And what confederacy have you with the 
traitors 
Late footed in the kingdom ? 

Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic 
king ? 
Speak. 

Glou. I have a letter guessingly set down, 
Which came from one that 's of a neutral heart. 
And not from one opposed. 

Corn. Cunning. 

Reg. And false. 

Corn. Where hast thou sent the king ? 50 

Glou. To Dover. 

Reg. Wherefore to Dover .^ Wast thou not 
charged at peril — 

Corn. Wherefore to Dover .^^ Let him first 
answer that. 

Glou. I am tied to the stake, and I must stand 
the course. 

Reg. Wherefore to Dover, sir.^^ 

Glou. Because I would not see thy cruel nails 
Pluck out his poor old eyes ; nor thy fierce sister 
In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs. 
The sea, with such a storm as his bare head 
In hell-black night endured, would have buoy'd up, 60 
And quench'd the stelled fires : 
Yet, poor old heart, he holp the heavens to rain. 
If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time. 
Thou shouldst have said "Good porter, turn the 

key." 
All cruels else subscribed : but I shall see 
The winged vengeance overtake such children. 



84 KING LEAR [Act Thbee 

Com. See 't shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the 
chair. 
Upon these eyes of thine I 'U set my foot. 

Glou, He that will think to live till he be old, 
Give- me some help ! O cruel ! O you gods ! 70 

Reg. One side will mock another ; the other too. 
Corn. If you see vengeance, — 
First Serv. Hold your hand, my lord : 

I have served you ever since I was a child ; 
But better service have I never done you 
Than now to bid you hold. 

Reg. How now, you dog ! 

First Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your 
chin, 
I 'd shake it on this quarrel. What do you mean ? 
Corn. My villain! [They draw and fight. 

First Serv. Nay, then, come on, and take the 

chance of anger. 
Reg. Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up 
thus ! 80 

[Takes a sword, and runs at him behind. 
First Serv. O, I am slain ! My lord, you have 
one eye left 
To see some mischief on him. O ! [Dies. 

Corn. Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile 
jelly! 
Where is thy lustre now ? 

Glou. All dark and comfortless. Where 's my 
son Edmund ? 
Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature, 
To quit this horrid act. 

Reg. Out, treacherous villain ! 



Scene Seven] KING LEAR 85 

Thou call's! on him that hates thee : it was he 
That made the overtm-e of thy treasons to us ; 
Who is too good to pity thee. 9o 

Glou. O my follies ! then Edgar was abused. 
Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him ! 
Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him 
smell 
His way to Dover. [Exit one with Gloucester. 

How is 't, my lord ? how look you ? 
Corn. I have received a hurt : follow me, lady ; 
Turn out that eyeless villain ; throw this slave 
Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace : 
Untimely comes this hurt : give me your arm. 

[Exit Cornwall led by Regan. 
Sec. Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do, 
If this man come to good. 

Third Serv. If she live long, ioq 

And in the end meet the old course of death. 
Women will all turn monsters. 

Sec. Serv. Let 's follow the old earl, and get the 
Bedlam 
To lead him where he would : his roguish madness 
Allows itself to any thing. 

Third Serv. Go thou : I'll fetch some flax and 
whites of eggs 
To apply to his bleeding face. Now, heaven help 
him ! [Exeunt severally. 



86 KING LEAR [Act Four 

ACT IV 

ScENB I — The heath 

Enter Edgar 

Edg. Yet better thus, and known to be con- 
temned 
Than still contemn'd and flatter'd. To be worst. 
The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune, 
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear : 
The lamentable change is from the best ; 
The worst returns to laughter. Welcome, then. 
Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace ! 
The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst 
Owes nothing to thy blasts. But who comes here ? 

Enter Gloucester, led by an Old Man 

My father, poorly led ? World, world, O world ! lo 
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee, 
Life would not yield to age. 

Old Man. O, my good lord, I have been your 
tenant, and your father's tenant, these fourscore 
years. 

Glou. Away, get thee away; good friend, be 
gone : 
Thy comforts can do me no good at all ; 
Thee they may hurt. 

Old Man. Alack, sir, you cannot see your way. 

Glou. I have no way, and therefore want no 

eyes ; 20 

I stumbled when I saw : full oft 't is seen, 
Our means secure us, and our mere defects 



Scene One] KING LEAR 87 

Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar, 
The food of thy abused father's wrath ! 
Might I but live to see thee in my touch, 
I 'Id say I had eyes again ! 

Old Man. How now ! Who 's there ? 

Edg. [Aside] O gods ! Who is 't can say "I am 
at the worst " ? 
I am worse than e'er I was. 

Old Man. 'T is poor mad Tom. 

Edg. [Aside.] And worse I may be yet : the 
worst is not 
So long as we can say "This is the worst." 30 

Old Man. Fellow, where goest ? 

Glou. Is it a beggar-man? 

Old Man. Madman and beggar too. 

Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg. 
I' the last night's storm I such a fellow saw ; 
Which made me think a man a worm : my son 
Came then into my mind ; and yet my mind 
Was then scarce friends with him : I have heard 

more since. 
As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods ; 
They kill us for their sport. 

Edg. [Aside] How should this be .? 

Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow, 40 
Angering itself and others. — Bless thee, master ! 

Glou. Is that the naked fellow ? 

Old Man. Ay, my lord. 

Glou. Then, prithee, get thee gone : if, for my 
sake. 
Thou wilt o'ertake us, hence a mile or twain, 
I' the way toward Dover, do it for ancient love ; 



88 KING LEAR [Act Four 

And bring some covering for this naked soul. 
Who I '11 entreat to lead me. 

Old Man. Alack, sir, he is mad. 

Glou. 'T is the times' plague, when madmen 
lead the blind. 
Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure ; 
Above the rest, be gone. 6C 

Old Man. I '11 bring him the best 'parel that I 
have, 
Come on 't what will. [Exit 

Glou. Sirrah, naked fellow, — 

Edg. Poor Tom 's a-cold. [Aside] I cannot daub 
it further. 

Glou. Come hither, fellow. 

Edg. [Aside] And yet I must. — Bless thy sweet 
eyes, they bleed. 

Glou. Know'st thou the way to Dover ? 

Edg. Both stile and gate, horse-way and foot- 
path. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good 
wits : bless thee, good man's son, from the foul eo 
fiend ! five fiends have been in poor Tom at once ; 
of lust, as Obidicut : Hobbididance, prince of dumb- 
ness ; Mahu, of stealing ; Modo, of murder ; Flib- 
bertigibbet, of mopping and mowing, who since 
possesses chambermaids and waiting- women. So, 
bless thee, master ! 

Glou. Here, take this purse, thou whom the 
heavens' plagues 
Have humbled to all strokes : that I am wretched 
Makes thee the happier : heavens, deal so still ! 
Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, 70 

That slaves your ordinance, that will not see 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 89 

Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly ; 
So distribution should undo excess, 
And each man have enough. Dost thou know 
Dover ? 

Edg. Ay, master. 

Glou. There is a cliff, whose high and bending 
head 
Looks fearfully in the confined deep : 
Bring me but to the very brim of it. 
And I '11 repair the misery thou dost bear 
With something rich about me : from that place 
I shall no leading need. 

Edg. Give me thy arm : 

Poor Tom shall lead thee. [Exeunt. 

Scene II — Before the Duke of Albany's palace 

Enter Goneril and Edmund 

Gon. Welcome, my lord : I marvel our mild hus- 
band 
Not met us on the way. 

Enter Oswald 

Now, where 's your master ? 
Osw. Madam, within; but never man so 

changed. 
I told him of the army that was landed ; 
He smiled at it : I told him you were coming ; 
His answer was "The worse": of Gloucester's 

treachery, 
And of the loyal service of his son. 
When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot, 
And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out : 



90 KING LEAR [Act Fouk 

What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him ; lo 
What like, offensive. 

Gon. [To Edm.] Then shall you go no further. 
It is the cowish terror of his spirit, 
That dares not undertake : he '11 not feel wrongs 
Which tie him to an answer. Our wishes on the way 
May prove effects. Back, Edmund, to my brother ; 
Hasten his musters and conduct his powers : 
I must change arms at home, and give the distaff 
Into my husband's hands. This trusty servant 
Shall pass between us : ere long you are like to hear. 
If you dare venture in your own behalf, 20 

A mistress's command. Wear this; spare speech; 

[Giving a favour. 
Decline your head : this kiss, if it durst speak, 
Would stretch thy spirits up into the air : 
Conceive, and fare thee well. 

Edm. Yours in the ranks of death. 

Gon. My most dear Gloucester ! 

[Exit Edmund. 
O, the difference of man and man ! 
To thee a woman's services are due : 
My fool usurps my body. 

Osw. Madam, here comes my lord. [Exit 

Enter Albany 

Gon. I have been worth the whistle. 

Alb. O Goneril 

You are not worth the dust which the rude wind 30 
Blows in your face. I fear your disposition : 
That nature, which contemns it origin, 
Cannot be border'd certain in itself ; 



Scene Two] KING LEAR 91 

She that herself will sliver and disbranch 
From her material sap, perforce must wither 
And come to deadly use. 

Gon. No more; the text is foolish. 

Alb. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem 
vile : 
Filths savour but themselves. What have you 

done ? 
Tigers, not daughters, what have you perform'd ? 4o 
A father, and a gracious aged man. 
Whose reverence even the head-lugg'd bear would 

lick. 
Most barbarous, most degenerate ! have you 

madded. 
Could my good brother suffer you to do it ? 
A man, a prince, by him so benefited ! 
If that the heavens do not their visible spirits 
Send quickly down to tame these vile offences. 
It will come, 

Humanity must perforce prey on itself, 
Like monsters of the deep. 

Gon. Milk-liver'd man ! 50 

That bear*st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs : 
Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning 
Thine honour from thy suffering ; that not know'st 
Fools do those villains pity who are punish'd 
Ere they have done their mischief. Where 's thy 

drum? 
France spreads his banners in our noiseless land. 
With plumed helm thy state begins to threat ; 
Whiles thou, a moral fool, sit'st still, and criest 
*' Alack, why does he so.^" 



92 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Alb. See thyself, devil ! 

Proper deformity seems not in the fiend 60 

So horrid as in woman. 

Gon. O vain fool ! 

Alb. Thou changed and self-cover'd thing, for 
shame, 
Be-monster not thy feature. Were 't my fitness 
To let these hands obey my blood. 
They are apt enough to dislocate and tear 
Thy flesh and bones : howe'er thou art a fiend, 
A woman's shape doth shield thee. 

Gon. Marry, your manhood ! mew ! 

Enter a Messenger 

Alb. What news ? 

Mess. O, my good lord, the Duke of Cornwall's 

dead ; 70 

Slain by his servant, going to put out 
The other eye of Gloucester. 

Alb. Gloucester's eyes ! 

Mess. A servant that he bred, thrill 'd with re- 
morse, 
Opposed against the act, bending his sword 
To his great master ; who, thereat enraged. 
Flew on him, and amongst them fell'd him dead ; 
But not without that harmful stroke, which since 
Hath pluck'd him after. 

Alb. This shows you are above. 

You justicers, that these our nether crimes 
So speedily can venge ! But, O poor Gloucester ! so 
Lost he his other eye ? 

Mess, Both, both, my lord. 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 93 

This letter, madam, craves a speedy answer ; 
'T is from your sister. 

Gon. [Aside] One way I like this well ; 
But being widow, and my Gloucester with her, 
May all the building in my fancy pluck 
Upon my hateful life : another way. 
The news is not so tart. — I '11 read, and answer. 

[Exit. 

Alb. Where was his son when they did take his 
eyes ? 

Mess. Come with my lady hither. 

Alb. He is not here. 90 

Mess. No, my good lord ; I met him back again. 

Alb. Knows he the wickedness ? 

Mess. Ay, my good lord; 't was he inform'd 
against him ; 
And quit the house on purpose, that their punish- 
ment 
Might have the freer course. 

Alb. Gloucester, I live 

To thank thee for the love thou show'dst the king. 
And to revenge thine eyes. Come hither, friend : 
Tell me what more thou know'st. [Exeunt. 

Scene III — The French camp near Dover 
Enter Kent and a Gentleman 

Kent. Why the King of France is so suddenly 
gone back know you the reason ? 

Gent. Something he left imperfect in the state, 
which since his coming forth is thought of ; which 
imports to the kingdom so much fear and danger. 



94 KING LEAR [Act Four 

that his personal return was most required and nec- 
essary. 

Kent. Who hath he left behind him general ? 

Gent. The Marshall of France, Monsieur La Far. lo 

Kent. Did your letters pierce the queen to any 
demonstration of grief ? 

Gent. Ay, sir ; she took them, read them in my 
presence ; 
And now and then an ample tear trill'd down 
Her delicate cheek : it seem'd she was a queen 
Over her passion ; who, most rebel-like. 
Sought to be king o'er her. 

Kent. O, then it moved her. 

Gent. Not to a rage : patience and sorrow 
strove 
Who should express her goodliest. You have seen 
Sunshine and rain at once : her smiles and tears 20 
Were like, a better way : those happy smilets. 
That play'd on her ripe lip, seem'd not to know 
What guests were in her eyes ; which parted thence, 
As pearls from diamonds dropp'd. In brief, 
Sorrow would be a rarity most beloved, 
If all could so become it. 

Kent. Made she no verbal question ? 

Gent. 'Faith, once or twice she heaved the name 
of "father" 
Pantingly forth, as if it press'd her heart ; 
Cried " Sisters ! sisters ! Shame of ladies ! sisters ! 
Kent ! father ! sisters ! What, i' the storm .^ i' the 

night.? 30 

Let pity not be believed ! " There she shook 
The holy water from her heavenly eyes. 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 95 

And clamour moisten'd : then away she started 
To deal with grief alone. 

Kent. It is the stars. 

The stars above us, govern our conditions ; 
Else one self mate and mate could not beget 
Such different issues. You spoke not with her 
since ? 

Gent, No. 

Kent. Was this before the king return'd ^ 

Gent. No, since. 

Kent. Well, sir, the poor distress'd Lear 's i' 
the town ; 40 

Who sometime, in his better tune, remembers 
What we are come about, and by no means 
Will yield to see his daughter. 

Gent. Why, good sir ? 

Kent. A sovereign shame so elbows him : his 
own unkindness. 
That stripp'd her from his benediction, turn'd her 
To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights 
To his dog-hearted daughters, these things sting 
His mind so venomously, that burning shame 
Detains him from Cordelia. 

Gent. Alack, poor gentleman ! 

Kent. Of Albany's and Cornwall's powers you 
heard not ? so 

Gent. 'T is so, they are afoot. 

Kent. Well, sir, I '11 bring you to our master 
Lear, 
And leave you to attend him : some dear cause 
Will in concealment wrap me up awhile ; 
When I am known aright, you shall not grieve 



96 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Lending me this acquaintance. I pray you, go 
Along with me. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV — The same. A tent 

Enter, with drum and colours, Cordelia, 
Doctor, and Soldiers 

Cor. Alack, 't is he : why, he was met even now 
As mad as the vex'd sea ; singing aloud ; 
Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, 
With hor-docks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, 
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow 
In our sustaining corn. A century send forth ; 
Search every acre in the high-grown field, 
And bring him to our eye. [Exit an Officer.] What 

can man's wisdom 
In the restoring his bereaved sense ? 
He that helps him take all my outward worth. lo 

Doct. There is means, madam : 
Our foster-nurse of nature is repose. 
The which he lacks ; that to provoke in him. 
Are many simples operative, whose power 
Will close the eye of anguish. 

Cor. All blest secrets, 

All you unpublished virtues of the earth. 
Spring with my tears ! be aidant and remediate 
In the good man's distress ! Seek, seek for him ; 
Lest his ungovern'd rage dissolve the life 
That wants the means to lead it. 

Enter a Messenger 
Mess. News, madam ; 20 

The British powers are marching hitherward. 



Scene Five] KING LEAR 97 

Cor. 'T is known before; our preparation 
stands 
In expectation of them. O dear father, 
It is thy business that I go about ; 
Therefore great France 

My mourning and important tears hath pitied. 
No blown ambition doth our arms incite, 
But love, dear love, and our aged father's right : 
Soon may I hear and see him ! [Exeunt. 

Scene V — Gloucester's castle 
Enter Regan and Oswald 

Reg. But are my brother's powers set forth ? 

Osw. Ay, madam, 

Reg. Himself in person there ? 

Osw. Madam, with much ado : 

Your sister is the better soldier. 

Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your lord at 
home ? 

Osw. No, madam. 

Reg. What might import my sister's letter to 
him ? 

Osw. 1 know not, lady. 

Reg. 'Faith, he is posted hence on serious 
matter. 
It was great ignorance, Gloucester's eyes being out, 
To let him live : where he arrives he moves lo 

All hearts against us : Edmund, I think, is gone. 
In pity of his misery, to dispatch 
His nighted life ; moreover, to descry 
The strength o' the enemy. 



98 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Osw. I must needs after him, madam, with my 
letter. 

Reg. Our troops set forth to-morrow : stay with 
us; 
The ways are dangerous. 

Osw. I may not, madam : 

My lady charged my duty in this business. 

Reg. Why should she write to Edmund ? Might 
not you 
Transport her purposes by word ? Belike, 20 

Something — I know not what : I '11 love thee 

much. 
Let me unseal the letter. 

Osw. Madam, I had rather — 

Reg. I know your lady does not love her hus- 
band ; 
I am sure of that : and at her late being here 
She gave strange oeillades and most speaking looks 
To noble Edmund. I know you are of her bosom. 

Osw. I, madam .f^ 

Reg. I speak in understanding; you are, I 
know 't : 
Therefore I do advise you, take this note : 
My lord is dead ; Edmund and I have talk'd ; 30 

And more convenient is he for my hand 
Than for your lady's : you may gather more. 
If you do find him, pray you, give him this ; 
And when your mistress hears thus much from you, 
I pray, desire her call her wisdom to her. 
So, fare you well. 

If you do chance to hear of that blind traitor, 
Preferment falls on him that cuts him off. 



Scene Six] KING LEAR 99 

OsiD. Would I could meet him, madam ! I 
should show 
What party I do follow. 

Reg. Fare thee well. [Exeunt. 40 

Scene VI — Fields near Dover 
Enter Gloucester, and Edgar dressed like a peasant 

Glou. When shall we come to the top of that 

same hill "^ 
Edg. You do climb up it now: look, how we 

labour. 
Glou. Methinks the ground is even. 
Edg. Horrible steep. 

Hark, do you hear the sea ? 

Glou. No, truly. 

Edg. Why, then, your other senses grow im- 
perfect 
By your eyes' anguish. 

Glou. So may it be, indeed : 

Methinks thy voice is alter'd ; and thou speak'st 
In better phrase and matter than thou didst. 
Edg. You 're much deceived : in nothing am I 
changed 
But in my garments. 

Glou. Methinks you 're better spoken, lo 

Edg. Come on, sir ; here 's the place : stand 
still. How fearful 
And dizzy 't is, to cast one's eyes so low ! 
The crows and choughs that wing the midway 

air 
Show scarce so gross as beetles : half way down 




100 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade ! 
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head : 
The fishermen, that walk upon the beach. 
Appear like mice ; and yond tall anchoring bark, 
Diminish'd to her cock ; her cock, a buoy 
Almost too small for sight : the murmuring surge, 2^ 
That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes. 
Cannot be heard so high. I '11 look no more, 
Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 
Topple down headlong. 

Glou. Set me where you stand, 

Edg. Give me your hand : you are now within 
a foot 
Of the extreme verge : for all beneath the moon 
Would I not leap upright. 

Glou. Let go my hand. 

Here, friend, 's another purse ; in it a jewel 
Well worth a poor man's taking : fairies and gods 
Prosper it with thee ! Go thou farther off ; 30 

Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going. 

Edg. Now fare you well, good sir. 

G^ou. With all my heart. 

Edg. Why I do trifle thus with his despair 
Is done to cure it. 

Glou. [Kneeling] O you mighty gods ! 
This world I do renounce, and, in your sights. 
Shake patiently my great affliction off : 
If I could bear it longer, and not fall 
To quarrel with your great opposeless wills. 
My snuff and loathed part of nature should 
Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O, bless him ! 40 

Now, fellow, fare thee well. [He falls forward. 



Scene Six] KING LEAR 101 

Edg. Gone, sir : farewell. 

And yet I know not how conceit may rob 
The treasury of life, when life itself 
Yields to the theft : had he been where he thought. 
By this had thought been past. Alive or dead ^ 
Ho, you sir ! friend ! Hear you, sir ! speak ! 
Thus might he pass indeed : yet he revives. 
What are you, sir .^^ 

Glou. Away, and let me die. 

Edg. Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, 
feathers, air. 
So many fathom down precipitating, 50 

Thou 'dst shiver'd like an egg : but thou dost 

breathe ; 
Hast heavy substance; bleed'st not; speak'st; 

art sound. 
Ten masts at each make not the altitude 
Which thou hast perpendicularly fell : 
Thy life 's a miracle. Speak yet again. 

Glou. But have I fall'n, or no ? 

Edg. From the dread summit of this chalky 
bourn. 
Look up a-height ; the shrill-gorged lark so far 
Cannot be seen or heard : do but look up. 

Glou. Alack, I have no eyes. 60 

Is wretchedness deprived that benefit, 
To end itself by death "^ 'T was yet some comfort, 
When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage. 
And frustrate his proud will. 

Edg. Give me your arm : 

Up : so. How is 't ? Feel you your legs .^ You 
stand. 



102 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Glou. Too well, too well. 

Edg. This is above all strangeness. 

Upon the crown o' the cliff, what thing was that 
Which parted from you ? 

Glou. A poor unfortunate beggar. 

Edg. As I stood here below, me thought his eyes 
Were two full moons ; he had a thousand noses, 70 
Horns whelk'd and waved like the enridged sea : 
It was some fiend ; therefore, thou happy father. 
Think that the clearest gods, who make them 

honours 
Of men's impossibilities, have preserved thee. 

Glou. 1 do remember now : henceforth I '11 bear 
Affliction till it do cry out itself 
"Enough, enough," and die. That thing you 

speak of, 
I took it for a man ; often 't would say 
"The fiend, the fiend" : he led me to that place. 

Edg. Bear free and patient thoughts. But who 
comes here ? so 

Enter Lear, fantastically dressed with wild flowers 

The safer sense will ne'er accommodate 
His master thus. 

Lear. No, they cannot touch me for coining; 
I am the king himself. 

Edg. O thou side-piercing sight ! 

Lear. Nature's above art in that respect. 
There 's your press-money. That fellow handles 
his bow like a crow-keeper : draw me a clothier's 
yard. Look, look, a mouse ! Peace, peace ; this 
piece of toasted cheese will do 't. There 's mygo 



Scene Six] KING LEAR 103 

gauntlet; I '11 prove it on a giant. Bring up the 
brown bills. O, well flown, bird ! i' the clout, i' 
the clout : hewgh ! Give the word. 

Edg. Sweet marjoram. 

Lear. Pass. 

Glou. I know that voice. 

Lear. Ha ! Goneril, with a white beard ! They 
flattered me like a dog ; and told me I had white 
hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. 
To say " ay " and " no " to every thing that I said ! — loo 
"Ay" and "no" too was no good divinity. When the 
rain came to wet me once, and the wind to make 
me chatter ; when the thunder would not peace at 
my bidding ; there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em 
out. Go to, they are not men o' their words : they 
told me I was every thing; 't is a lie, I am not 
ague-proof. 

Glou. The trick of that voice I do well remem- 
ber : 
Is 't not the king ^ 

Lear. Ay, every inch a king : 

When I do stare, see how the subject quakes. no 

I pardon that man's life. What was thy cause .^ 
Adultery ? 

Thou shalt not die : die for adultery ! No : 
The wren goes to 't, and the small gilded fly 
Does lecher in my sight. 

Let copulation thrive ; for Gloucester's bastard son 
Was kinder to his father than my daughters 
Got 'tween the lawful sheets. 
To 't, luxury, pell-mell ! for I lack soldiers. 
Behold yond simpering dame, 120 



104 KING LEAK [Act Four 

Whose face between her forks presages snow ; 
That minces virtue, and does shake the head 
To hear of pleasure's name ; 
The fitchew, nor the soiled horse, goes to 't 
With a more riotous appetite. 
Down from the waist they are Centaurs, 
Though women all above : 
But to the girdle do the gods inherit, 
Beneath is all the fiends' ; 

There 's hell, there 's darkness, there 's the sul- 
phurous pit, 130 
Burning, scalding, stench, consumption; fie, fie, 
fie ! pah ! pah ! Give me an ounce of civet, good 
apothecary, to sweeten my imagination : there 's 
money for thee. 

Glou. O, let me kiss that hand ! 

Lear. Let me wipe it first ; it smells of mortality. 

Glou. O ruin'd piece of nature ! This great 
world 
Shall so wear out to nought. Dost thou know me ? 

Lear. I remember thine eyes well enough. 
Dost thou squiny at me ? No, do thy worst, blind i4o 
Cupid; I '11 not love. Read thou this challenge; 
mark but the penning of it. 

Glou. Were all the letters suns, I could not see 
one. 

Edg. I would not take this from report ; it is. 
And my heart breaks at it. 

Lear. Read. 

Glou. What, with the case of eyes ? 

Lear. O, ho, are you there with me? No eyes 
in your head, nor no money in your purse ? Your 



Scene Six] KING LEAR 105 

eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a light : yet i50 
you see how this world goes. 

Glou. I see it feelingly. 

Lear. What, art mad ? A man may see how this 
world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears : 
see how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. 
Hark, in thine ear : change places ; and, handy- 
dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief .f* 
Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar ? 

Glou. Ay, sir. leo 

Lear. And the creature run from the cur? 
There thou mightst behold the great image of au- 
thority : a dog 's obeyed in office. 
Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand ! 
Why dost thou lash that whore ? Strip thine own 

back; 
Thou hotly lust'st to use her in that kind 
For which thou whipp'st her. The usurer hangs 

the cozener. 
Through tatter' d clothes small vices do appear ; 
Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with 

gold. 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks ; 17Q 
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it. 
None does offend, none, I say, none ; I '11 able 'em ; 
Take that of me, my friend, who have the power 
To seal the accuser's lips. Get thee glass eyes ; 
And, like a scurvy politician, seem 
To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, 

now: 
Pull off my boots : harder, harder : so. 

Edg. O, matter and impertinency mix'd ! 



106 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Reason in madness ! 

Lear. If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my 

eyes. iso 

I know thee well enough ; thy name is Gloucester : 
Thou must be patient ; we came crying hither : 
Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air, 
We wawl and cry. I will preach to thee : mark. 

Glou. Alack, alack the day ! 

Lear. When we are born, we cry that we are 
come 
To this great stage of fools : this' a good block ; 
It were a delicate stratagem, to shoe 
A troop of horse with felt : I '11 put 't in proof ; 
And when I have stol'n upon these sons-in-law, 190 
Then, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill ! 

Enter a Gentleman, with Attendants 

Gent. O, here he is ; lay hand upon him. Sir, 
Your most dear daughter — 

Lear. No rescue.? What, a prisoner? I am 
even 
The natural food of fortune. Use me well ; 
You shall have ransom. Let me have surgeons ; 
I am cut to the brains. 

^^^^- You shall have any thing. 

Lear. No seconds ? all myself .? 
Why, this would make a man a man of salt. 
To use his eyes for garden water-pots, 200 

Ay, and laying autumn's dust. 

Gent. Good sir, — 

Lear. I will die bravely, like a smug bridegroom. 
What ! 



Scene Six] KING LEAR 107 

I will be jovial : come, come ; I am a king, 
My masters, know you that. 

Gent. You are a royal one, and we obey you. 

Lear. Then there 's life in 't. Nay, if you get 
it, you shall get it with running. Sa, sa, sa, sa. 

[Exit running ; Attendants follow. 

Gent. A sight most pitiful in the meanest wretch, 
Past speaking of in a king ! Thou hast one 

daughter. 
Who redeems nature from the general curse 210 

Which twain have brought her to. 

Edg. Hail, gentle sir. 

Gent. Sir, speed you : what 's your will ? 

Edg. Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward '^ 

Gent. Most sure and vulgar : every one hears 
that, 
Which can distinguish sound. 

Edg. But, by your favour, 

How near 's the other army ^ 

Gent. Near and on speedy foot ; the main descry 
Stands on the hourly thought. 

Edg. I thank you, sir : that 's all. 

Gent. Though that the queen on special cause 
is here. 
Her army is moved on. 

Edg. I thank you, sir. [Exit Gent. 220 

Glou. You ever-gentle gods, take my breath 
from me ; 
Let not my worser spirit tempt me again 
To die before you please ! 

Edg. Well pray you, father. 

Glou. Now, good sir, what are you ? 



108 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Edg. A most poor man, made tame to fortune's 
blows ; 
Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows. 
Am pregnant to good pity. Give me your hand, 
I '11 lead you to some biding. 

Glou. Hearty thanks : 

The bounty and the benison of heaven 
To boot, and boot ! 

Enter Oswald 

Osw. A proclaimed prize ! Most happy ! 230 

That eyeless head of thine was first framed flesh 
To raise my fortunes. Thou old unhappy traitor. 
Briefly thyself remember : the sword is out 
That must destroy thee. 

Glou. Now let thy friendly hand 

Put strength enough to 't. [Edgar interposes, 

Osw. Wherefore, bold peasant, 

Darest thou support a publish'd traitor ? Hence ; 
Lest that the infection of his fortune take 
Like hold on thee. Let go his arm. 

Edg. Chill not let go, zir, without vurther 
'casion. 240 

Osw. Let go, slave, or thou diest ! 

Edg. Good gentleman, go your gait, and let 
poor volk pass. An chud ha' bin zwaggered out 
of my life, 't would not ha' bin zo long as 't is by 
a vortnight. Nay, come not near th' old man; 
keep out, che vor ye, or ise try whether your 
costard or my ballow be the harder : chill be plain 
with you. 

Osw. Out, dunghil] ! 



Scene Six] KING LEAR 109 

Edg. Chill pick your teeth, zir : come ; no 250 
matter vor your foins. 

[They fight, and Edgar knocks him down. 

Osw. Slave, thou hast slain me : villain, take 
my purse : 
If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body ; 
And give the letters which thou find'st about me 
To Edmund earl of Gloucester ; seek him out 
Upon the British party : O, untimely death ! 

[Dies. 

Edg. I know thee well : a serviceable villain 
As duteous to the vices of thy mistress 
As badness would desire. 

Glou. What, is he dead ? 

Edg. Sit you down, father ; rest you. 26o 

Let 's see these pockets : the letters that he 

speaks of 
May be my friends. He 's dead ; I am only sorry 
He had no other death's-man. Let us see : 
Leave, gentle wax ; and, manners, blame us not : 
To know our enemies' minds, we 'Id rip their hearts ; 
Their papers, is more lawful. 

[Reads] *' Let our reciprocal vows be remembered. 
You have many opportunities to cut him off : if 
your will want not, time and place will be fruitfully 
offered. There is nothing done, if he return the 270 
conqueror : then am I the prisoner, and his bed 
my gaol ; from the loathed warmth whereof deliver 
me, and supply the place for your labour. 

" Your — wife, so I would say — 

"Affectionate servant, 

**G0NERIL," 



110 XING LEAR [Act Four 

O undistinguish'd space of woman's will ! 

A plot upon her virtuous husband's life ; 

And the exchange my brother ! Here, in the sands, 28o 

Thee I '11 rake up, the post un sanctified 

Of murderous lechers : and in the mature time 

With this ungracious paper strike the sight 

Of the death-practised duke : for him 't is well 

That of thy death and business I can tell. 

Glou. The king is mad : how stiff is my vile 
sense. 
That I stand up, and have ingenious feeling 
Of my huge sorrows ! Better I were distract : 
So should my thoughts be sever'd from my griefs, 
And woes by wrong imaginations lose 290 

The knowledge of themselves. 

Edg. Give me your hand : 

[Drum afar ojf. 
Far off, methinks, I hear the beaten drum : 
Come, father, I '11 bestow you with a friend. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene VII — A tent in the French camp. Lear on 
a bed asleep, soft music playing; Gentleman, 
and others attending 

Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Doctor 

Cor. O thou good Kent, how shall I live and 
work. 
To match thy goodness ? My life will be too short. 
And every measure fail me. 

Kent. To be acknowledged, madam, is o'erpaid. 
All my reports go with the modest truth ; 



Scene Seven] KING LEAR 111 

Nor more nor clipp'd, but so. 

Cor. Be better suited : 

These weeds are memories of those worser hours i 
I prithee, put them off. 

Kent. Pardon me, dear madam ; 

Yet to be known shortens my made intent : 
My boon I make it, that you know me not lo 

Till time and I think meet. 

Cor. Then be 't so, my good lord. [To the 
Doctor] How does the king ^ 

Doct. Madam, sleeps still. 

Cor. O you kind gods, 
Cure this great breach in his abused nature ! 
The untuned and jarring senses, O, wind up 
Of this child-changed father ! 

Doct. So please your majesty 

That we may wake the king : he hath slept long. 

Cor. Be govern'd by your knowledge, and pro- 
ceed 
I' the sway of your own will. Is he array'd ? 20 

Gent. Ay, madam ; in the heaviness of his sleep 
We put fresh garments on him. 

Doct. Be by, good madam, when we do awake 
him 
I doubt not of his temperance. 

Cor. Very well. 

Doct. Please you, draw near. Louder the 
music there ! 

Cor. O my dear father ! Restoration hang 
Thy medicine on my lips ; and let this kiss 
Repair those violent harms that my two sisters 
Have in thy reverence made ! 



112 KING LEAR [Act Four 

Kent. Kind and dear princess ! 

Cor. Had you not been their father, these white 
flakes 30 

Had challenged pity of them. Was this a face 
To be opposed against the warring winds ? 
To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder ? 
In the most terrible and nimble stroke 
Of quick, cross lightning ? to watch — poor 

perdu ! — 
With this thin helm ? Mine enemy's dog. 
Though he had bit me, should have stood that night 
Against my fire ; and wast thou fain, poor father, 
To hovel thee with swine, and rogues forlorn, 
In short and musty straw ? Alack, alack ! 40 

'T is wonder that thy life and wits at once 
Had not concluded all. He wakes ; speak to him. 

Dod. Madam, do you ; 't is fittest. 

Cor. How does my royal lord } How fares your 
majesty ? 

Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o' the 
grave : 
Thou art a soul in bliss ; but I am bound 
Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears 
Do scald like molten lead. 

Cor. Sir, do you know me ? 

Lear. You are a spirit, I know : when did you 
die.? 

Cor. Still, still, far wide I 50 

Doct. He 's scarce awake : let him alone awhile. 

Lear. Where have I been ? Where am I ? Fair 
daylight ? 
I am mightily abused. I should e'en die with pity. 



Scene Seven] KING LEAR 113 

To see another thus. I know not what to say. 
I will not swear these are my hands : let 's see ; 
I feel this pin prick. Would I were assured 
Of my condition ! 

Cor. O, look upon me, sir, 

And hold your hands in benediction o'er me : 
No, sir, you must not kneel. 

Lear. Pray, do not mock me : 

I am a very foolish fond old man, 60 

Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less ; 
And, to deal plainly, 
I fear I am not in my perfect mind. 
Methinks I should know you, and know this man ; 
Yet I am doubtful : for I am mainly ignorant 
What place this is ; and all the skill 1 have 
Remembers not these garments ; nor I know not 
Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me ; 
For, as I am a man, I think this lady 
To be my child Cordelia. 

Cor. And so I am, I am. 70 

Lear. Be your tears wet.f^ yes, 'faith. I pray, 
weep not : 
If you have poison for me, I will drink it. 
I know you do not love me ; for your sisters 
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong : 
You have some cause, they have not. 

Cor. No cause, no cause. 

Lear. Am I in France ? 

Kent. In your own kingdom, sir. 

Lear. Do not abuse me. 

Doct. Be comforted, good madam : the great 
rage, 



114 KING LEAR [Act Five 

You see, is kill'd in him : and yet it is danger 

To make him even o'er the time he has lost. so 

Desire him to go in : trouble him no more 

Till further settling. 

Cor. Will 't please your highness, walk ? 

Lear. You must bear with me : 

Pray you now, forget and forgive : I am old and 
foolish. 

[Exeunt all hut Kent and Gentleman. 

Gent. Holds it true, sir, that the Duke of Corn- 
wall was so slain ? 

Kent. Most certain, sir. 

Gent. Who is conductor of his people ? ♦ 

Kent. As 't is said, the bastard son of Gloucester. 

Gent. They say Edgar, his banished son, is with 90 
the Earl of Kent in Germany. 

Kent. Report is changeable. 'T is time to look 
about ; the powers of the kingdom approach apace. 

Gent. The arbitrement is like to be bloody. 
Fare you well, sir. [Exit. 

Kent. My point and period will be thoroughly 
wrought. 
Or well or ill, as this day's battle 's fought. [Exit. 



ACT V 

Scene I — The British camp near Dover 

Enter, with drum and colours, Edmund, Regan, 
Gentlemen, and Soldiers 

Edm. Know of the duke if his last purpose hold. 
Or whether since he is advised by aught 



Scene One] KING LEAR 115 

To change the course : he 's full of alteration 
And self -reproving : bring his constant pleasure. 

[To a Gentleman, who goes out. 

Reg. Our sister's man is certainly miscarried. 

Edm. 'T is to be doubted, madam. 

Reg. Now, sweet lord, 

You know the goodness I intend upon you : 
Tell me — - but truly — but then speak the truth, 
Do you not love my sister ? 

Edm. In honour'd love. 

Reg. But have you never found my brother's 

way 10 

To the forf ended place ? 

Edm. That thought abuses you. 

Reg. I am doubtful that you have been conjunct 
And bosom'd with her, as far as we call hers. 

Edm. No, by mine honour, madam. 

Reg. I never shall endure her : dear my lord. 
Be not familiar with her. 

Edm. Fear me not : 

She and the duke her husband ! 

Enter, with drum and colours, Albany, Goneril, 
and Soldiers 

Gon. [Aside] I had rather lose the battle than 
that sister 
Should loosen him and me. 

Alb. Our very loving sister, well be-met. 20 

Sir, this I hear ; the king is come to his daughter. 
With others whom the rigour of our state 
Forced to cry out. Where I could not be honest, 
I never yet was valiant : for this business. 



116 KING LEAR [Act Five 

It toucheth us, as France invades our land. 
Not holds the king, with others, whom, I fear. 
Most just and heavy causes make oppose. 

Edm. Sir, you speak nobly. 

^^9' Why is this reason'd .? 

Gon. Combine together 'gainst the enemy ; 
For these domestic and particular broils 30 

Are not the question here. 

^l^' Let *s then determine 

With the ancient of war on our proceedings. 

Edm, I shall attend you presently at your 
tent. 

Reg. Sister, you '11 go with us .^ 

Gon. No. 

Reg. 'T is most convenient ; pray you, go with 
us. 

Gon. [Aside] O, ho, I know the riddle. — I 
' will go. 

As they are going out, enter Edgar disguised 

Edg. If e'er your grace had speech with man 
so poor. 
Hear me one word. 

Al^' I '11 overtake you. Speak. 

[Exeunt all hut Albany and Edgar. 
Edg. Before you fight the battle, ope this letter. 40 
If you have victory, let the trumpet sound 
For him that brought it: wretched though I 

seem, 
I can produce a champion that will prove 
What is avouched there. If you miscarry. 
Your business of the world hath so an end, 



Scene One] KING LEAR 117 

And machination ceases. Fortune love you ! 

Alb. Stay till I have read the letter. 

Edg. I was forbid it. 

When time shall serve, let but the herald cry, 
And I '11 appear again. 

Alb. Why, fare thee well : I will o'erlook thy 
paper. [Exit Edgar, so 

Re-enter Edmund 

Edm. The enemy 's in view; draw up your 
powers. 
Here is the guess of their true strength and forces 
By diligent discovery ; but your haste 
Is now urged on you. 

Alb. We will greet the time. [Exit. 

Edm. To both these sisters have I sworn my 
love; 
Each jealous of the other, as the stung 
Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take ? 
Both ? one ? or neither ? Neither can be enjoy 'd, 
If both remain alive : to take the widow 
Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril ; 60 

And hardly shall I carry out my side. 
Her husband being alive. Now then we '11 use 
His countenance for the battle ; which being done. 
Let her who would be rid of him devise 
His speedy taking off. As for the mercy 
Which he intends to Lear and to Cordelia, 
The battle done, and they within our power. 
Shall never see his pardon ; for my state 
Stands on me to defend, not to debate. [Exit. 



118 KING LEAR [Act Five 

Scene II — A field between the two camps 

Alarum, within. Filter, with drum and colours, Leab, 
Cordelia, and Soldiers, over the stage; and exeunt 

Enter Edgar and Gloucester 

Edg. Here, father, take the shadow of this tree 
For your good host ; pray that the right may thrive : 
If ever I return to you again, 
I '11 bring you comfort. 

Glou. Grace go with you, sir ! 

[Exit Edgar. 

Alarum and retreat within. Re-enter Edgar 

Edg. Away, old man ; give me thy hand ; away ! 
King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta'en : 
Give me thy hand ; come on. 

Glou. No farther, sir ; a man may rot even here. 

Edg. What, in ill thoughts again.? Men must 
endure 
Their going hence, even as their coming hither : lo 
Ripeness is all : come on. 

Glou. And that 's true too. [Exeunt, 

Scene III — The British camp near Dover 

Enter, in conquest, with drum and colours, Edmund; 
Lear and Cordelia, prisoners; Captain, Soldiers, &c. 

Edm. Some officers take them away : good 
guard, 
Until their greater pleasures first be known 
That are to censure them. 

Cor. We are not the first 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 119 

Who, with best meaning, have incurr'd the worst. 
For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down ; 
Myself could else out-frown false fortune's frown. 
Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters ? 

Lear. No, no, no, no ! Come, let 's away to 
prison : 
We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage : 
W^hen thou dost ask me blessing, I '11 kneel down, lo 
And ask of thee forgiveness : so we '11 live. 
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh 
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues 
Talk of court news ; and we '11 talk with them too. 
Who loses and who wins ; who 's in, who 's out ; 
And take upon 's the mystery of things. 
As if we were God's spies : and we '11 wear out. 
In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, 
That ebb and flow by the moon. 

Edm. Take them away. 

Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, 20 

The gods themselves throw incense. Have I 

caught thee ? 
He that parts us shall bring a brand from heavens. 
And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes ; 
The good-years shall devour them, flesh and fell. 
Ere they shall make us weep : we '11 see 'em starve 

first. 
Come. [Exeunt Lear and Cordelia, guarded. 

Edm. Come hither, captain ; hark. 
Take thou this note [giving a paper] ; go follow them 

to prison : 
One step I have advanced thee ; if thou dost 
As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way 



no KING LEAR [Act Five 

To noble fortunes : know thou this, that men 30 

Are as the time is : to be tender-minded 
Does not become a sword : thy great employment 
Will not bear question : either say thou 'It do 't. 
Or thrive by other means. 

Capt. I '11 do 't, my lord. 

Edm. About it; and write happy when thou 
hast done. 
Mark, I say, instantly ; and carry it so 
As I have set it down. 

Capt. I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats ; 
If it be man's work, I '11 do 't. [Exit. 

Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril, Regan, another 
Captain, and Soldiers 

Alb. Sir, you have shown to-day your valiant 
strain, 40 

And fortune led you well : you have the captives 
That were the opposites of this day's strife : 
We do require them of you, so to use them 
As we shall find their merits and our safety 
May equally determine. 

Edm. Sir, I thought it fit 

To send the old and miserable king 
To some retention and appointed guard ; 
Whose age has charms in it, whose title more. 
To pluck the common bosom on his side. 
And turn our impress'd lances in our eyes 50 

Which do command them. With him I sent the 

queen ; 
My reason all the same ; and they are ready 
To-morrow, or at further space, to appear 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 121 

Where you shall hold your session. At this time 
We sweat and bleed : the friend hath lost his friend ; 
And the best quarrels, in the heat, are cursed 
By those that feel their sharpness : 
The question of Cordelia and her father 
Requires a fitter place. 

Alb. Sir, by your patience, 

I hold you but a subject of this war, 60 

Not as a brother. 

Reg. That 's as we list to grace him. 

Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded. 
Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers ; 
Bore the commission of my place and person ; 
The which immediacy may well stand up. 
And call itself your brother. 

Gon. Not so hot : 

In his own grace he doth exalt himself, 
More than in your addition. 

Reg. In my rights, 

By me invested, he compeers the best. 

Gon. That were the most, if he should husband 
you. 70 

Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets, 

Gon. Holla, holla ! 

That eye that told you so look'd but a-squint. 

Reg. Lady, I am not well ; else I should answer 
From a full-flowing stomach. General, 
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony ; 
Dispose of them, of me ; the walls are thine : 
Witness the world, that I create thee here 
My lord and master. 

Gon. Mean you to enjoy him ? 



122 KING LEAR [Act Five 

Alb. The let-alone lies not in your good will. 

Edm. Nor in thine, lord. 

Alb. Half-blooded fellow, yes. so 

Reg. [To Edmund] Let the drum strike, and 
prove my title thine. 

Alb. Stay yet ; hear reason. Edmund, I arrest 
thee 
On capital treason ; and, in thine attaint. 
This gilded serpent [pointing to Goneril]. For your 

claim, fair sister, 
I bar it in the interest of my wife ; 
'T is she is sub-contracted to this lord. 
And I, her husband, contradict your bans. 
If you will marry, make your loves to me, 
My lady is bespoke. 

Gon. An interlude ! 

Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloucester : let the trum- 
pet sound : 90 
If none appear to prove upon thy head 
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons. 
There is my pledge [throwing down a glove]; I '11 

prove it on thy heart. 
Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less 
Than I have here proclaim'd thee. 

Reg. Sick, O, sick ! 

Gon. [Aside] If not, I '11 ne'er trust medicine. 

Edm. There 's my exchange [throwing down a 
glove] : what in the world he is 
That names me traitor, villain-like he lies : 
Call by thy trumpet : he that dares approach. 
On him, on you, who not.? I will maintain loo 

My truth and honour firmly. 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 123 

Alb. A herald, ho ! 

Edm. A herald, ho, a herald ! 

Alb. Trust to thy single virtue ; for thy soldiers. 
All levied in my name, have in my name 
Took their discharge. 

Reg. My sickness grows upon me. 

Alb. She is not well ; convey her to my tent. 

[Exit Regan, led. 

Enter a Herald—" — — 

Come hither, herald, — Let the trumpet sound, — 
And read out this. 

Capt. Sound, trumpet ! [A trumpet sounds. 

Her. [Reads] "If any man of quality or degree no 
{vithin the lists of the army will maintain upon 
Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester, that he is 
a manifold traitor, let him appear by the third 
sound of the trumpet : he is bold in his defence." 

Edm. Sound ! [First trumpet. 

Her. Again ! [Second trumpet. 

Her. Again ! [Third trumpet. 

[Trumpet answers within. 

Enter Edgar, at the third sound, armed, with a 
trumpet before him 

Alb. Ask him his purposes, why he appears 
Upon this call o' the trumpet. 

Her. What are you ? 

Your name, your quality ? and why you answer 120 
This present summons ? 

Edg. Know, my name is lost ; 

By treason's tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit : 
Yet am I noble as the adversary 



124 KING LEAR [Act Pivb 

I come to cope. 

Alb. Which is that adversary ? 

Edg. What 's he that speaks for Edmund Earl 
of Gloucester? 

Edm. Himself : what say'st thou to him ? 

Edg. Draw thy swordj 

That, if my speech offend a noble heart, 
Thy arm may do thee justice : here is mine. 
Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours, 
My oath, and my profession : I protest, iso 

Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence. 
Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune. 
Thy valour and thy heart, thou art a traitor ; 
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father ; 
Conspirant 'gainst this high-illustrious prince ; 
And, from the extremest upward of thy head 
To the descent and dust below thy foot, 
A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou "No," 
This sword, this arm, and my best spirits, are bent 
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak, ko 

Thou liest. 

Edm. In wisdom I should ask thy name ; 

But, since thy outside looks so fair and warlike 
And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes. 
What safe and nicely I might well delay 
By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn : 
Back do I toss these treasons to thy head ; 
With the hell-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart ; 
Which, for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise, 
This sword of mine shall give them instant way, 
Where they shall rest for ever. Trumpets, speak ! i5P 
[Alarums. They fight. Edmund falls. 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 125 

Alb. Save him, save him ! 

Gon. This is practice, Gloucester : 

By the law of arms thou wast not bound to 

answer 
An unknown opposite ; thou art not vanquish' d, 
But cozen'd and beguiled. 

Alb. Shut your mouth, dame, 

Or with this paper shall I stop it. Hold, sir; 
Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil : 
No tearing, lady ; I perceive you know it. 

[Gives the letter to Edmund. 

Gon. Say, if I do, the laws are mine, not thine : 
Who can arraign me for 't ? 

Alb. Most monstrous ! oh ! 

Know'st thou this paper ? 

Gon. Ask me not what I know. [Exit, leo 

Alb. Go after her : she 's desperate ; govern her. 

Edm. What you have charged me with, that 
have I done ; 
And more, much more ; the time will bring it out : 
'T is past, and so am I. But what art thou 
That hast this fortune on me ? If thou 'rt noble, 
I do forgive thee. 

Edg. Let 's exchange charity. 

I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund ; 
If more, the more thou hast wrong'd me. 
My name is Edgar, and thy father's son. 
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices 170 

Make instruments to plague us : 
The dark and vicious place where thee he got 
Cost him his eyes. 

Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 't is true ; 



126 KING LEAR [Act Five 

The wheel is come full circle ; I am here. 

Alb. Me thought thy very gait did prophesy 
A royal nobleness : I must embrace thee : 
Let sorrow split my heart, if ever I 
Did hate thee or thy father ! 

Edg. Worthy prince, I know 't. 

Alb. Where have you hid yourself ? 
How have you known the miseries of your father ? iso 

Edg. By nursing them, my lord. List a brief 
tale; 
And when 't is told, O, that my heart would burst ! 
The bloody proclamation to escape. 
That follow'd me so near, — O, cur lives' sweetness ! 
That we the pain of death would hoiuly die 
Rather than die at once ! — taught me to shift 
Into a madman s rags ; to assume a semblance 
That very dogs disdain'd : and in this habit 
Met I my father with his bleeding rings. 
Their precious stones new lost ; became his guide, 190 
Led him, begg'd for him, saved him from despair ; 
Never, — O fault ! — reveal'd myself unto him. 
Until some half -hour past, when I was arm'd : 
Not sure, though hoping, of this good success, 
I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last 
Told him my pilgrimage : but his flaw'd heart, — 
Alack, too weak the conflict to support ! — 
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, 
Burst smilingly. 

Edm. This speech of yours hath moved me. 

And shall perchance do good : but speak you on ; 200 
You look as you had something more to say. 
Alb. If there be more, more woeful, hold it in ; 



Scene Three] • KING LEAH 1^7 

For I am almost ready to dissolve, 
Hearing of this. 

Edg. This would have seem'd a period 

To such as love not sorrow ; but another, 
To amplify too much, would make much more. 
And top extremity. 
Whilst I was big in clamour came there in a 

man, 
Who, having seen me in my worst estate, 
Shunn'd my abhorr'd society ; but then, finding 210 
Who 't was that so endured, with his strong arms 
He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out 
As he 'Id burst heaven ; threw him on my father ; 
Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him 
That ever ear received : which in recounting 
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life 
Began to crack : twice then the trumpets sounded, 
And there I left him tranced. 

Alb. But who was this ^ 

Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent ; who in dis- 
guise 
FoUow'd his enemy king, and did him service 220 

Improper for a slave. 

Enter a Gentleman, with a bloody knife 

Gent. Help, help, O, help ! 
Edg. What kind of help .? 

Alb. Speak, man. 

Edg. What means that bloody knife ? 
Gent. 'T is hot, it smokes ; 

It came even from the heart of — O, she's dead ! 

Alb. Who dead ? speak, man. 



1£8 KING LEAR • [Act Five 

Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady : and her sister 
By her is poisoned ; she hath confess'd it. 

Edm. I was contracted to them both : all three 
Now marry in an instant. 

Edg. Here comes Kent. 

Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead : 230 
This judgement of the heavens, that makes us 

tremble. 
Touches us not with pity. [Exit Gentleman, 

Enter Kent 

O, is this he ? 
The time will not allow the compliment 
Which very manners urges. 

Kent. I am come 

To bid my king and master aye good night. 
Is he not here "^ 

Alb. Great thing of us forgot ! - 

Speak, Edmund, where 's the king.?* and where 's 

Cordelia '^ 
See'st thou this object, Kent ? 

[The bodies of Goneril and Regan are brought in. 

Kent. Alack, why thus "^ 

Edm. Yet Edmund was beloved : 

The one the other poison'd for my sake, 240 

And after slew herself. 

Alb. Even so. Cover their faces. 

Edm. I pant for life : some good I mean to do, 
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send. 
Be brief in it, to the castle ; for my writ 
Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia : 
Nay, send in time. 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 129 

Alb. Run, run, O, run ! 

Edg. To who, my lord ? Who hath the office ? 
send 
Thy token of reprieve. 

Edm, Well thought on : take my sword, 250 

Give it the captain. 

Alb. Haste thee for thy life. [Exit Edgar. 

Edm. He hath commission from thy wife and 
me 
To hang Cordelia in the prison, and 
To lay the blame upon her own despair, 
That she fordid herself. 

Alb. The gods defend her ! Bear him hence 
awhile. [Edmund is borne off. 

Re-enter Lear, with Cordelia dead in his arms; 
Edgar, Captain, and others following 

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl ! O, you are 
men of stones : 
Had I your tongues and eyes, I 'Id use them so 
That heaven's vault should crack. She 's gone for 

ever ! 
I know when one is dead, and when one lives ; 26O 

She 's dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass ; 
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, 
Why, then she lives. 

Kent. Is this the promised end ? 

Edg. Or image of that horror ? 

Alb. Fall, and cease ! 

Lear. This feather stirs : she lives ! if it be so. 
It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows 
That ever I have felt. 



130 KING LEAR [Act Five 

Kent. [Kneeling] O my good master ! 

Lear. Prithee, away. 

Edg. 'T is noble Kent, your friend. 

Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors 
all! 
I might have saved her ; now she 's gone for ever ! 270 
Cordelia, Cordelia ! stay a little. Ha ! 
What is 't thou say'st ^ Her voice was ever soft, 
Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. 
I kill'd the slave that was a-hanging thee. 

Cajpt. 'T is true, my lords, he did. 

Lear. Did I not, fellow? 

I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion 
I would have made them skip : I am old now. 
And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you ^ 
Mine eyes are not o' the best : I '11 tell you straight. 

Kent. If fortune brag of two she loved and 

hated, 280 

One of them we behold. 

Lear. This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent .? 

Kent. The same, 

Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius ? 

Lear. He 's a good fellow, I can tell you that ; 
He '11 strike, and quickly too : he 's dead and rotten. 

Kent. No, my good lord ; I am the very man, — 

Lear. I 'U see that straight. 

Kent. That, from your first of difference and 
decay, 
Have follow'd your sad steps. 

Lear. You are welcome hither. 

Kent. Nor no man else : all 's cheerless, dark, 

and deadly. 290 



Scene Three] KING LEAR 131 

Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves. 
And desperately are dead. 

Lear. Ay, so I think. 

Alb. He knows not what he says : and vain it is 
That we present us to him. 

Edg. Very bootless. 

Enter a Captain 

Capt. Edmund is dead, my lord. 

Alb. That 's but a trifle here. 

You lords and noble friends, know our intent. 
What comfort to this great decay may come 
Shall be applied : for us, we will resign. 
During the life of this old majesty, 
To him om- absolute power: [To Edgar and Kent] 

you, to your rights ; 300 

With boot, and such addition as your honours 
Have more than merited. All friends shall taste 
The wages of their virtue, and all foes 
The cup of their deservings. O, see, see ! 

Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd ! No, no, no 
life! 
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life. 
And thou no breath at all.^ Thou 'It come no 

more. 
Never, never, never, never, never ! 
Pray you, undo this button : thank you, sir. 
Do you see this "^ Look on her, look, her lips, 310 

Look there, look there ! [Dies. 

Edg. He faints ! My lord, my lord ! 

Kent. Break, heart ; I prithee, break ! 

Edg. Look up, my lord. 



/v 

132 KING LEAR [Act Five 

Kent. Vex not his ghost : O, let him pass ! he 
hates him much 
That would upon the rack of this tough world 
Stretch him out longer. 

Edg. He is gone, indeed. 

Kent. The wonder is, he hath endured so long : 
He but usurp'd his life. 

Alb. Bear them from hence. Our present busi- 
ness 
Is general woe. [To Kent and Edgar] Friends of 

my soul, you twain 
Rule in this realm, and the gored state sustain. 320 

Kent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go ; 
My master calls me, I must not say no. 

Edg. The weight of this sad time we must obey ; 
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. 
The oldest hath borne most : we that are young 
Shall never see so much, nor live so long. 

[Exeunt, with dead march. 



NOTES 



ABBREVIATIONS 



Abbott . . 


. . Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar. 


Fl . . . 


. . First Folio (1623) of Shakespeare's plays. 


F2 . . . 


. . Second Folio (1632). 


F3 . . . 


. . Third Folio (1663 and 1664). 


F4 . . . 


. . Fourth Folio (1685). 


Ff . . . 


. . The four Folios. 


Kellner . 


. . Kellner' s Historical Outlines of English 




Syntax. 


0. E. . . 


. . Old English (Anglo-Saxon). 


M. E. . . 


. . Middle English. 


E. E. . . 


. . Elizabethan English. 


Mod. E. . 


. . Modern English. 


Ql . . . 


. . First Quarto (1608) of King Lear. 


Q2 . . . 


. . Second Quarto (1608 [?]1619). 


Qq . . . 


. . The two Quartos. 



For the meaning of words not given in these notes, the student 
is referred to the Glossary at the end of the volume. 

The numbering of the lines corresponds to that of the Globe 
edition ; this applies also to the scenes in prose. 

Dramatis Personx. This list is not in the Quartos or Folios. 
It was first given by Rowe (1709). 

The division into acts and scenes is not marked in the Quartos. 

ACT I — SCENE 1 



The first scene of King Lear is of unusual importance. It 
both enacts the events on which the whole play is founded and 
brings out prominently the characters of all the principal 
actors. As a general rule the first scene is confined to giving 
information necessary for the understanding of the story ; or 
it may, as in Macbeth, symbolize the drama. But in King Lear 

133 



134 KING LEAR [Act One 

we are introduced at once, without any preparation, to the cir- 
cumstance on which the story turns. The play as a whole 
is the representation of the effects of its opening incidents. 
Goethe considered this scene " irrational " in its want of prep- 
aration. 

I. affected, had affection for, favored — the common mean- 
ing in Shakespeare. Cf. Twelfth Night, ii. 5. 28, " Maria 
once told me she did affect me." 

5. equalities are so weighed, . . . , their shares are so bal- 
anced that close scrutiny will not show one to be better than 
the other. For curiosity, see Glossary. 

II. brazed, hardened. Cf. " brazen-faced." 
18. proper, handsome, as frequently in E. E. ' 

20. some year, a year or so, about a year. See i. 2. 5. 

32. deserving, i.e. to be better known by you. 

33. out, abroad, in foreign lands. Cf. Two Gentlemen of 
Verona, i. 3. 7, " Put forth their sons to seek preferment out." 

37. our darker purpose, our more secret design. Lear 
makes a full statement of what is already known by Kent and 
Gloucester. 

39. fast intent, fixed intention ; synonymous with " constant 
will " in 1. 44. 

41-46. while we . . . now. Omitted in the Qq. 

54. challenge, claim as due : " where there are both the 
claims of nature {i.e. of birth) and merit." Cf. iv. 7. 31. 

56. wield the matter, express. 

62. Beyond all manner of so much, beyond all such com- 
parisons. 

65. shadowy, shady. 

73. names my very deed of love, states exactly my love; 
expresses my love in very deed. 

76. the most precious square of sense, the most exquisitely 
sensitive part of our nature. 

77. felicitate, made happy, Regan's protestations are as 
forced as Goneril's. Her stilted phraseology betokens her 
insincerity. It is in ominous contrast to the simplicity of all 
that Cordelia can bring herself to say. 

80. more ponderous. So the Ff . The Qq read more richer. 
The double comparative and superlative (e.g. 1. 219) were com- 
monly used in E. E. to give emphasis. 

83. validity, value, worth ; not in the modern sense of " good 
title." 



Scene One] NOTES 135 

85. Although the last, not least. This phrase occurs also in 
Julius Coesar, iii. 1, 189, " Though last, not least in love " ; and 
there are several other instances of it in Elizabethan literature. 

The Ff read, " Our last and least," which is preferred by 
some editors ; while the Qq have " Although the last, not least 
in our dear love," but omit from to whose young love to interess'd. 
The usual reading of this passage is therefore founded on both 
texts. 

86. milk: referring to the rich pasture land of Burgundy. 

87. interess'd. See Glossary for unusual words. 

92. Nothing will come of nothing. Cf . i. 4. 145-146, and the 
proverb. Ex nihilo nihil fit. 

95. bond, bounden duty, obligation. 

97. Good my lord, a common form of transposition when 
the possessive is unemphatic. Cf. 1. 122 and iii. 2. 61. The 
transposition occurs most commonly when the address begins 
a sentence; contrast ii. 1. Ill, iv. 2. 70 and 91. 

102. all, exclusively, only. So also 1. 106. 

109. All that Cordelia says has the sincerity and abrupt 
simplicity inevitable on being goaded to give expression to 
feelings too heartfelt for words. It has been remarked by 
some critics that Cordelia's conduct bears in its tactless obsti- 
nacy traces of her father's headstrong nature. Coleridge, for 
instance, says : " There is something of disgust at the ruthless 
hypocrisy of her sisters, and some little faulty admixture of 
pride and sullenness in Cordelia's ' Nothing ' ; and her tone 
is well contrived, indeed, to lessen the glaring absurdity of 
Lear's conduct." But the prevailing note of her character 
is simplicity and truth. She feels so deeply that she is un- 
able to frame a formal statement of her love for her father, 
and she is the less able to do so from her abhorrence of her 
sisters' rank insincerity. 

110. Wounded vanity is the cause of Lear's anger. He had 
already determined on a division of his kingdom among his 
three daughters. He says definitely, on his very entrance, 
" we have divided in three our kingdom," and Kent and Glouces- 
ter have already discussed two of the shares. But that his 
vanity may be ministered unto, he wishes to hear the pro- 
fessions of his daughters' love. " The trial is but a trick," 
says Coleridge; "the grossness of the old king's rage is in 
part the natural result of a silly trick suddenly and most un- 
expectedly bafiled and disappointed." 



136 KING LEAR [Act One 

112. Hecate, the goddess in classical mythology of enchant- 
ments and sorcery. In the Middle Ages she was regarded as 
the queen of witches. Cf. Macbeth, ii. 1. 52 and iii. 5. The 
word is pronounced as a dissyllable in Shakespeare. 

113. operation of the orbs, influence of the stars. 

116. property, equivalent to " identity." Cf. proper, iv. 2. 60. 

119. generation, generally said to mean " offspring," as in 
the phrase " generation of vipers," St. Matthew, iii. 7, etc. It 
is plausibly suggested by Mr. W. J. Craig, however, that gen- 
eration may here mean parents, as progeny does in Coriolanus, 
i. 8. 12. " Though Purchas in his Pilgrimes has a curious pas- 
sage mentioning different kinds of cannibalism, he does not 
mention eating of children by their parents, nor do I know any 
reference to it. On the other hand, Herodotus tells us that the 
Scythians ate their aged and impotent relations, and Chapman 
in Byron's Tragedy, iv. 1, has the following passage : ' to teach 
. . . The Scythians to inter not eat their parents.' " 

125-126. to set my rest On her kind nursery. This appears 
to have a double meaning. " To set one's rest " is a phrase used 
in the game of primero, meaning " to stake all upon the cards 
in one's hand," and hence it came to mean generally to stake 
one's all. To set my rest on her kind nursery would therefore 
mean " to rely absolutely on her care." But it is probable 
that Shakespeare had the simpler interpretation also in view, 
viz. " to find rest for my old age with her." There is a similar 
usage in Romeo and Juliet, v. 3. 110, " O here Will I set up my 
everlasting rest " ; and in this the phrase cannot well have 
the first meaning exclusively. 

126. nursery, nursing. 

Hence, and avoid my sight ! Addressed to Cordelia. 

130. digest, divide, dispose of. See Glossary. 

131. Let her pride find her a husband, as she won't have a 
dowry to do so. 

133. effects, signs, manifestations. Cf. ii. 4. 182. 

138. additions, titles, as commonly in Shakespeare. Cf. ii. 
2. 26 and v. 3. 68. 

141. This coronet : referring to the one originally intended 
for Cordelia. 

145. make from, get out of the way of. 

146. the fork, the barbed arrow-head. 

147. " Almost the first burst of that noble tide of passion 
which runs through the play is in the remonstrance of Kent 



Scene One] NOTES 137 

to his royal master on the injustice of his sentence against his 
youngest daughter : ' Be Kent unmannerly, when Lear is mad ! ' 
This manly plainness, which draws down on him the displeas- 
ure of the unadvised king, is worthy of the fidelity with which 
he adheres to his fallen fortunes " (Hazlitt). 

151. Reverse thy doom (change your sentence) is the reading 
of the Qq ; the Ff have Reserve thy state, retain your royal power. 

153. answer my life my judgement, let my life answer for 
my judgment. 

161. blank, literally the white centre of a target. 

163. swear' st, adjurest, swearest by. For the omission of 
the preposition, cf. ii. 2. 88, and see Abbott, § 200. 

175. our potency made good, our royal authority being 
maintained. 

" Kent's opposition . . . displays Lear's moral incapability 
of resigning the sovereign power in the very act of disposing 
of it " (Coleridge). 

177. diseases, discomforts, absence of ease. 

187. approve, justify, confirm, as commonly in E. E. Cf. 
ii. 2. 167, ii. 4. 187, and iii. 5. 12. 

191. Here's France and Burgundy. For the common 
Shakespearean use of a singular verb preceding a plural sub- 
ject, see Abbott, § 335. 

193-194. you who . . . Hath. A singular verb often follows 
a relative whose antecedent is plural. Cf. stirs, ii. 4. 277, and 
see Abbott, § 247. 

199. so, i.e. " dear," with the meaning " of high price." 

201. that little seeming substance. A diflBcult phrase. 
Johnson takes seeming in the sense of beautiful, little seeming 
being thus equivalent to ugly; Steevens and Schmidt give it 
the sense of specious; while Wright understands it to mean in 
appearance. The second interpretation is the best. There 
appears to be little point in " that substance which is but little 
in appearance," and Johnson's explanation is forced. 

203. like, please, as commonly in E. E. Cf. ii. 2. 96. 

205. owes, possesses. 

209. makes not up, does not decide. " There is no choice 
on such conditions." 

212. make such a stray, stray so far. 

213. To match. For the omission of as, see Abbott, § 281, 
and cf. 1. 220. 

beseech, i.e. I beseech. " The Elizabethan authors objected 



138 KING LEAR [Act One 

to scarcely any ellipsis, provided the deficiency could be easily 
supplied from the context." See Abbott, §§ 399-401. Cf. ii. 
4. 42 and v. 1. 68. 

218. argument, theme, subject ; as commonly in E. E. 

223. monsters it, makes it monstrous. A similar use occurs 
in Coriolanus, ii. 2. 81 : " idly sit To hear my nothings 
monster'd." 

224. Fall'n into taint, (must have) fallen into decay. 
227. for, because. 

234. still-soliciting, ever-begging. Cf. i. 4. 353, ii. 4, 107, 
and The Tempest, i. 2. 229, " the still-vex'd Bermoothes." 

242. regards, considerations. Cf. 1. 251. 

243. the entire point, the sole consideration, the object of 
pure love. 

253-264. France's tender declaration appears the more beau- 
tiful by contrast with the prosaic selfish remarks of his rival, 
who has amply merited Cordelia's " Peace be with Burgundy ! " 

261. waterish, well-watered ; used in contempt. 

262. unprized, beyond price. " The sufiix -ed in past parti- 
ciples had in E. E. gone far to acquire the sense of ' what may 
be done ' in addition to that of ' what has been done.' For the 
most part this heightened meaning occurs in combination with 
a negative prefix '' (Herford). Cf. untented, i. 4. 322; unnum- 
herd, iv. 6. 21 ; and undistinguish' d, iv. 6. 278. Unprized may, 
however, be used here in the simple sense of " not prized." 

264. here and where are used as nouns. 

271. Cordelia from the first has seen through her sisters' 
deceit ; but pity for her father, despite the wrong he has done 
her, at last forces her to speak plainly. Note how she has 
gradually worked herself up to this declaration. 

The jewels of our father, in apposition with " you." 

with wash'd eyes, i.e. with tears. 

275. professed, full of professions. For this active sense of the 
past participle, cf. better spoken, iv. 6. 10, and see Kellner, § 408. 

277. prefer, recommend, direct ; as commonly in Shakespeare. 

279. As Hazlitt remarks, the true character of the two eldest 
daughters, who have not spoken since the very beginning of 
the love test, breaks out in Regan's answer to Cordelia, " their 
hatred of advice being in proportion to their determination to 
do wrong, and to their hypocritical pretensions to do right." 
But most striking of all is Goneril's odious self-righteousness in 
telling her sister " You have obedience scanted." 



Scene Two] NOTES 139 

281. At, used in statements of price or value ; hence, " as an 
alms of fortune." 

282. This line presents some difficulty. It is best rendered 
thus, " And well deserve that absence of affection from your 
father which you have shown towards him." It is possible, 
however, to take want as referring specifically to the dowry, 
and in this case, as Wright says, the want that you have wanted 
would be an instance of a verb and its cognate accusative. 

286-312. The closing dialogue of this scene shows Goneril 
to be the stronger and more assertive of the two sisters. It 
is she who broaches the discussion of their position, and de- 
clares, when Regan purposes merely to " think " on their 
policy, that they must strike while the iron is hot. But the 
dialogue is also of considerable importance in the structure of 
the play, as it serves to prepare us for Lear's fate. The very 
waywardness to which they owe their fortunes they make a 
reason for their treacherous design to deprive him of authority. 
Lear's faults, it appears, are not due to senility, though this has 
aggravated them, for he " hath ever but slenderly known him- 
self," and " the best and soundest years of his life have been 
but rash." 

Note the change from verse to prose. We pass with it from 
the higher plane of passion to that of underhand scheming. 

295. grossly, plainly, evidently. 

304. like, likely. Cf. iv. 2. 19. 

310. offend, harm. 

SCENE 2 

In the second scene we turn to the minor web of the play, 
the Gloucester story, which has already been indicated by the 
opening conversation of the previous scene. This underplot 
is in striking parallelism with the main story, and each in turn 
acts as a foil to the other. See Introduction, p. xv. 

1. Thou, nature, art my goddess, as he is a natural son. 

3. Stand in the plague of custom, be subject to the injustice 
of custom. 

4. curiosity, scruples. See Glossary. 
6. Lag of, later than. 

8. generous : used in the obsolete sense of " gallant," 
" noble," " natural to one of noble birth or spirit." 

21. top the. The commonly accepted emendation of the old 



y 



140 KING LEAR [Act One 

reading to the. It is supported by several other passages in 
Shakespeare, e.g. v. 3. 207. 

24. subscri&ec?, surrendered ; literally " signed away." Cf. 
subscription, iii. 2. 18. 

25. exhibition, allowance. 

26. Upon the gad, suddenly, as if pricked by a gad {i.e. a 
goad). Cf. " upon the spur of the moment." 

32. terrible, terrified. 

48. policy and reverence of age, i.e. policy of reverencing 
age. Cf. other instances of this figure of speech — hendiadys 
— in 11. 191-192, " image and horror," and i. 4. 364, " This milky 
gentleness and course." 

49. the best of our times, the best part of our lives, as in 
i. 1. 298 and i. 2. 122. 

53. suffered, allowed, endured. 

89. where, whereas, as commonly in Shakespeare. 

93. wrote. Cf. mistook, ii. 4. 12; fell, iv. 6. 54; and see 
Abbott, §§ 343, 344. 

94. pretence of danger, dangerous intention. Cf. i. 4. 75. 
106. wind me into him, worm yourself into his confidence. 

Me is an ethical dative. Cf. iv. 6. 88. 

107-108. / would unstate myself, ... I should give up 
my position and dignity in order to be certain how matters 
stand. 

109. convey, discharge, carry out ; commonly with a notion 
of secrecy. 

111-127. As Wright has pointed out, this passage may have 
been suggested by the eclipses of the sun and moon in September 
and October, 1605. See Introduction, p. ix. 

There is perhaps a reference to the Gunpowder Plot (Nov. 
5, 1605) in the words " in palaces, treason " and " machi- 
nations, hollowness, treachery." 

113-114. though the wisdom of nature ..." Though 
natural philosophy can give account of eclipses, yet we feel 
their consequences " (Johnson). 

119-124. This villain . . . graves. Omitted in the Qq. 

120-121. bias of nature, i.e. natural bias or inclination. 

126-127. Gloucester's superstitiousness has made him an easy 
prey to Edmund's cunning. His reference to the injustice done 
to Kent gives point to the folly of his own credulity. Lear 
was no more unjust to the " noble and true-hearted Kent " than 
Gloucester himself is to Edgar. 



Scene Three] NOTES 141 

128. foppery, folly, the original meaning of fop being a 
" fool." Cf. foppish, i. 4. 182. 

133-134. spherical predominance, synonymous with " plan- 
etary influence." 

136. divine thrusting on, impulse from above. 

146. pat he comes like the catastrophe ... An allusion 
to the clumsy structure of the early comedies, in which the 
conclusion seemed to come by chance at the very moment it 
was wanted. 

148. Tom o' Bedlam. See ii. 3. 14. Thanks to Edmund's 
treachery, Tom o' Bedlam is yet to be Edgar's cue. 

157. succeed, ensue, turn out; used, like the noun success, 
indifferently of good or bad consequences. Cf. " this good 
success," V. 3. 194. 

157-166. as of . . . Come, come. Omitted in the Ff . 

161. diffidences, suspicions, distrust ; now used only of dis- 
trust of one's self. 

161-162. dissipation of cohorts. Probably corrupt; the 
phrase does not suit the context, and neither of the words occurs 
elsewhere in Shakespeare. Of the emendations that have been 
suggested, the best is " disputation of consorts " (Craig). 

164-165. a sectary astronomical, a devotee of astrology. 

178-179. with the mischief . . . allay, would scarcely be 
allayed even by doing harm to your person. 

181-187. I pray you . . . Armed, brother! Omitted in the 

185. ye is strictly a nominative, but it is frequently used in 
E. E., and especially by the dramatists, instead of the objective 
you. Cf. i. 4. 324 and ii. 2. 50. 

191-192. image and horror. See note on 1. 48, above. 

198. practices, plots, artifices; a common sense in E. E. 
Cf. ii. 1. 75, 109, etc., and practised, iii. 2. 57, etc. 

SCENE 3 

This scene takes up the main thread of the story and follows 
directly on the closing dialogue of scene 1. In. the interval 
Goneril is fully instated in her new power, and has gained 
confidence in her ability to deprive Lear of the remnants of his 
authority. 

1. for chiding of. See note on ii. 1. 41. 

10. answer, answer for. Cf. i. 1. 153. 



142 KING LEAR [Act One 

20. With checks as flatteries, . . . The line is best ren- 
dered, " With rebukes instead of flatteries, when flatteries are 
seen to feed their folly." As has the force of " instead of " 
rather than of " as well as." They in the second half of the line 
is sometimes taken to refer to " old fools," i.e. " when old fools 
are seen to be deceived." Possibly the line is corrupt. LI. 
16-20 are omitted in the Ff. 

24. Goneril has more initiative than her sister. It is she who 
" breeds occasion " to humble Lear completely, and she dictates 
her sister's policy also. 

SCENE 4 

Lear comes to realize the position in which he has placed 
himself. Hitherto he has appeared merely hasty, wayward, 
and imperious, but now we begin to see the better elements 
of his character. The pathos of his lot is emphasized by the 
solicitude of Kent and the significant utterances of the Fool, 
and he wins our sympathy. 

2. defuse, confuse, hence disguise; an obsolete form of 
diffuse. 

12. What dost thou profess? What is thy profession.? 
Note the play on the word in Kent's reply. 

16. converse, associate; the common meaning in Shake- 
speare. 

18. to eat no fish. Warburton explained this as a refer- 
ence to the Roman Catholic custom of eating fish on Fridays. 
" In Queen Elizabeth's time the Papists were esteemed enemies 
to the government. Hence the proverbial phrase of ' He's an 
honest man and eats no fish,' to signify he's a friend to the 
government and a Protestant." Capell explained it as meaning 
that Kent was " no lover of such meagre diet as fish." Cf. 
2 Henry IV, iv. 3. 99 ; but this gives the phrase little point. If 
Warburton's explanation is correct, Kent uses this phrase as 
an indirect way of expressing his loyalty. 

26. Who. See Abbott, § 274. Cf. iv. i. 47. 

35. curious, complicated. See Glossary. 

51. clotpoll, blockhead, "clod-pate." The form " clodpole " 
occurs in Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 208. 

59. roundest, plainest. Cf. Othello, 1. 3. 90, " a round un- 
varnished tale " ; and Twelfth Night, ii. 3. 102, " I must be 
round with you." 



Scene Four] NOTES 143 

64. For the construction, see note on iii. 2. 13. 

72-78. We have here the first indication of Lear's finer 
qualities. Though hasty in temper, he is at least generous. 
Sooner than believe in any purposed unkindness, he blames his 
own suspicions. 

73. faint, cold, indifferent, half-hearted, 

75. pretence, offer. It is commonly synonymous with pur- 
pose (e.g. i. 2. 95), but here it has a stronger force. 

77-78. this two days, a common Shakespearean usage. 

81. In Lear's " No more of that," etc., we detect the first 
hint of his regret for his treatment of Cordelia. 

107. The Fool plays a very important part in King Lear. 
He is not to be regarded as an accessory suited to the public 
taste, and he has a higher function than merely to relieve the 
intensity of the situation. His rambling remarks do relax the 
strain on our feelings, but their chief effect is, by reason of their 
deep significance, to heighten the pathos. See Introduction 
p. xvii. 

coxcomb, the Fool's cap. 

111. you were best, a common construction in E. E. It is a 
corrupted survival of an O. E. usage, in which you is the dative 
and the whole phrase is impersonal. That Shakespeare used 
you as a nominative may be seen from such lines as " I were 
better to be eaten to death," 2 Henry IV, i. 2. 245, and " She 
were better love a dream," Twelfth Night, ii. 2. 27. Cf. iii. 4. 
105. 

114. on's, a euphonic contraction of of his. See Abbott, 
§ 182. Cf. i. 5. 20, and ont, 1. 168 below. 

117. nuncle, the customary address of a fool to his master; 
a contraction of mine uncle. 

125. Lady the brach, i.e. the bitch-hound. Cf. iii. 6. 72. 

131. showest, seemest to have. Cf. shows (appears), 1. 265. 

133. owest, i.e. ownest. Cf. i. 1. 205. 

134. goest, i.e. walkest, as often in Shakespeare. 

135. Learn more than thou trowest. Don't believe all you 
hear. 

136. Set, stake, offer wagers at dice. Cf. Richard II, iv. 1. 
57, " Who sets me else ? by heaven I'll throw at all " {i.e. who 
else lays down stakes, challenges me). The meaning seems to 
be, " offer lower wagers than your dice-throws bring to you, 
than you win at a throw," or " stake lower than the chances of 
your game." 



144 KING LEAR [Act One 

143-144. Can you make no use of nothing? The Fool 
suggests that his lines have a significance which Lear has not 
realized. Kent is the first to see that " this is not altogether 
fool." 

154-169. That lord . . . snatching. Omitted in the Ff. 
Johnson suggests that there was perhaps a political reason in 
their omission, " as they seemed to censure the monopolies " ; 
but this objection does not apply to the Fool's verses. 

The first two verses are explained by a passage in the old 
play. King Leir. See Introduction, pp. xiii. 

167. monopoly. " A satire on the gross abuses of monop- 
olies at that time, and the corruption and avarice of the 
courtiers, who commonly went shares with the patentee " 
(Warburton). 

out, taken out, granted to me. 

176-177. thou borest thy ass on thy back. An allusion to 
^sop's fable. 

179. like myself, i.e. like a fool. He again insists on his 
seriousness. 

181-184. " There never was a time when fools were less in 
favour ; and the reason is, that they were never so little wanted, 
for wise men now supply their place " (Johnson). 

182. foppish, foolish. Ci. foppery, i. 2. 128. 

191-192. These two lines, like several others farther on, are 
probably taken from ,an old song. Steevens points out a 
similar couplet in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece (1608) : 

" When Tarquin first in court began. 
And was approved king. 
Some men for sudden joy 'gan weep, 
But I for sorrow sing." 

208. frontlet, literally a band worn on the forehead; here 
used metaphorically for " frown." 

211-212. an O, a mere cipher, of no value unless joined to a 
figure. 

219. shealed, shelled. This form survives in Scotch and in 
provincial English. 

221. other, i.e. others. Other is now plural only when it is 
used attributively (e.g. other men). In O. E. other was used in 
both numbers, the plural form being othre. The final e was 
dropped in time; hence the E. E. plural form other, which is 



Scene Fouk] NOTES 145 

found in the authorized version of the Bible along with the 
modern form others (see St. Luke, xxiii. 32). 

227. put on, encourage. Cf. note on ii. 1. 101. 

228. allowance, approval. 

229-233. nor the redresses sleep. . . , nor would the 
punishment (for the riotous conduct of your retinue) fail to be 
put into operation, which punishment, given to preserve 
soundly the peace of the commonwealth, might in its course 
give you an affront that would be a shame under other circum- 
stances, but which under these necessarily would be called a 
well chosen procedure. 

230. tender, care, tendance. Cf. 1 Henry IV, v. 4. 49, 
" thou makest some tender of my life." 

weal, commonwealth. 

233. The somewhat embarrassed syntax and the indirect 
expressions betoken Goneril's hesitation. Her statements have 
been direct enough while she merely objected to Lear's conduct. 
Now for the first time she threatens him to his face. 

236. it. This possessive form is of fairly common occur- 
rence in E. E. Cf. iv. 2. 32. The ordinary neuter possessive 
in E. E. is his. Its is not found in Spenser, and occurs very 
seldom in Shakespeare (e.g. Henry VIII, i. 1. 18), but it began 
about this time to replace his. For the form it, cf. the West 
Midland uninflected genitive hit. See Abbott, § 228. 

Sir Joshua Reynolds remarks on the incoherent words with 
which Shakespeare often finishes this Fool's speeches : " We 
may suppose that they had a custom of taking off the edge of 
too sharp a speech by covering it hastily with the end of an old 
song, or any glib nonsense that came into mind." This may 
apply to " Whoop, Jug ! I love thee " in 1. 245 ; but in the pres- 
ent case there is a very pertinent meaning in the " glib non- 
sense." 

237. A similar figure of speech occurs in Spenser's story of 
Lear, Faerie Queene, ii. 10. 30. See Appendix A. 

245. Jug, a colloquial name for a sweetheart or mistress, 
derivatively a substitute for the feminine name Joan or Joanna. 
According to Steevens, " Whoop, Jug ! I love thee " is a quota- 
tion from an old song. 

248. notion, understanding, intellect ; the only meaning of 
the word in Shakespeare. 

Lear's awakening is so sudden that he can hardly believe 
his senses. This reference to his intellect is prophetic. It is 
the first hint of his madness. 



146 KING LEAR [Act One 

252-254. On hearing the Fool's reply, Lear says he should 
like to know if he is only Lear's shadow. His marks of sover- 
eignty, his knowledge, and his reason all tell him that he is 
Lear himself, and therefore the father of Goneril, but he may 
be falsely persuaded to that effect. This passage is omitted in 
the Ff. 

Note the change, from this juncture, in Lear's attitude to- 
ward the Fool. 

255. Which, whom. See Abbott, § 266. 

258. admiration, astonishment, wonder. 

265. Shows, appears. 

epicurism, sensuality, though found in E. E. also in the 
specialized sense of " gluttony." 

267. graced, honorable. 

269. Goneril admits her own masterfulness. Her threats are 
no longer hesitating or cloaked in obscure phraseology. 

271. depend, attend on you, be dependants. For the con- 
struction, see Abbott, § 354. 

277. Goneril's objection to the conduct of Lear's servants is 
no doubt justified. We are ready to believe that, on the prin- 
ciple of like master like man, they are impetuous and noisy. 
Goneril has the ability to avail herself of every opportunity of 
criticism, and to turn every fault, however small, into an excuse 
for her conduct. 

283. sea-monster. Cf. iv. 2. 50. This is often said to be 
the hippopotamus, which in Egyptian tradition was a monster 
of impiety and ingratitude. But as the hippopotamus does not 
live in the sea, some commentators think the reference is to the 
whale. Mr. Craig suggests that Shakespeare had not " any 
special kind of monster in his thoughts, but was thinking of 
those monsters of classical mythology slain by Hercules and 
by Perseus in defence of beauty — these stories were then very 
popular." Cf. Merchant of Venice, iii. 2. 57. 

285. choice and rarest, i.e. choicest and rarest, the super- 
lative form applying to both ; a common construction in E. E. 

290. engine, i.e. an engine of torture, the rack. 

294. dear, precious. Dear is used regularly in E. E. to ex- 
press extremeness or intensity : thus " my dearest foe " = 
my greatest foe. 

302. derogate, deteriorated, debased* 

306. thwart, perverse. 

disnatured, unnatural. 



Scene Five] NOTES 147 

316. With characteristic masterfulness and deceit, Goneril 
had given orders for the number of Lear's followers to be 
decreased before desiring him " a little to disquantity his train." 
Before the threat was uttered, it had been carried out. 

322. untented, incurable; literally, not to be probed by a 
tent. See i. 1. 262. 

324. Beweep, i.e. if you beweep. 

328. comfortable, ready to comfort. Cf. ii. 2. 171. 

334. Albany appears, at the beginning of the play, to be a 
mere puppet in the hands of Goneril. He has his qualms of 
conscience at her conduct, but is very reluctant to pass any 
criticism, and he is stopped short before he can do more than 
suggest his disapproval. But events show that he is not 
wanting in moral force. 

345-356. This man . . . unfitness, omitted in the Qq. 

347. At point, in readiness, fully equipped. Cf. iii. 1. 33. 

348. buzz, whisper, rumor. 
353. taken, i.e. by the harms. 

360. full, the adjective for the adverb. Cf. iv. 6. 3. 

366. attask'd, taken to task, blamed. The Ff read " at 
task." 

369. Malone compares Shakespeare's Sonnets, ciii : 

" Were it not sinful then, striving to mend. 
To mar the subject that before was well? " 

371. the event, the issue ; time will show. 

SCENE 5 

This scene contains little of importance to the action of the 
story. Its purpose is to convey a fuller sense of Lear's mis- 
fortune ; and this is achieved by the subtle prattle of the Fool 
(who knows better tljan Lear how Regan will act), Lear's own 
involuntary reference to Cordelia (1. 24), and, above all, his 
foreboding of madness. 

1. Gloucester, probably the city, not the earl, whose castle 
was in its vicinity. 

2. Acquaint my daughter no further. Contrast Goneril's 
instruction to Oswald in the preceding scene. 

8. brains, used in the singular, as elsewhere occasionally in 
Shakespeare. Cf. All's Well, iii. 2. 16, " The brains of my 
Cupid's knocked out." 



148 KING LEAR [Act Two 

11-12. I.e. as you have no brains, you run no risk of kibes and 
therefore of needing to wear slippers. 

kibes, sores on the heels ; also chilblains. 

15. kindly : used equivocally with the two meanings " with 
kindness " and " after her nature." 

crab, crab apple. 

25. / did her wrong. " This and Lear's subsequent ejacu- 
lations to himself are in verse ; his distracted replies to the Fool 
in prose " (Herford). 

36. Be : generally used in E. E. to express doubt (a) in 
questions, and (6) after verbs of thinking. See Abbott, § 299. 

38. the seven stars, the Pleiades. 

43. To take't again perforce ! " He is meditating on the 
resumption of his royalty." This is the interpretation of 
Johnson, which is better than that of Steevens, to the effect 
that he is thinking of his daughter's having so violently de- 
prived him of the privileges she had agreed to grant him. 

50. " The mind's own anticipation of madness ! The 
deepest tragic notes are often struck by a half sense of an 
impending blow " (Coleridge). 



ACT II — SCENE 1 

The minor thread of the story is again taken up, and is now 
interwoven with the principal one. Edmund, after succeeding 
in his plot to turn his father against Edgar, fitly joins the party 
of Regan and Cornwall. 

^ 1. Save thee, i.e. God save thee — a common form of saluta- 
tion. 

8. news : used indifferently in E. E. in the singular (as in 
89, 90) and plural (as here). 

9. ear-kissing, whispered, arguments, cf. i. 1. 218. 
12. toward, near at hand. Cf. iii. 3. 2?) and iv. 6. 213. 

One of Lear's objects in dividing his kingdom, it will be 
remembered, was " that future strife may be prevented now " 
(i. 1. 46). 

19. of a queasy question, requiring delicate handling; 
queasy, strictly " squeamish," " sickly." 

20. briefness, promptitude. 

28. Upon his party. The usual explanation of this line is 
that Edmund, in order to confuse his brother and alarm him 
to a speedy flight, asks Edgar whether he has not spoken 



Scene One] NOTES 149 

against the Duke of Cornwall, and then, reversing the ques- 
tion, asks whether he has not spoken against the Duke of 
Albany. U'pon his party elsewhere in Shakespeare invariably 
means " on his side " (cf. iv. 6. 256). But this is not an in- 
superable obstacle to the simpler interpretation, " Have you 
said nothing upon the party formed by him against the Duke 
of Albany ? " 

33. Yield . . . here. Spoken loudly, so that Gloucester may 
hear. 

41. Edmund knows how to turn to account Gloucester's 
superstitiousness. 

Mumbling of. The preposition of shows mumbling to have 
the force of a verbal noun. The full construction would be on 
mumbling of; d. for chiding of, i. 3. 1. But in E. E. the verbal 
noun was influenced by the present participle ; hence the 
omission of the anterior preposition here, and of the posterior 
preposition in v. 3. 274, a-hanging thee. 

48. bend, direct. Cf. iv. 2. 74. 

51. loathly, with abhorrence, loathingly. 

52. motion, a fencing term for " attack," " thrust." 

54. lanced (for the Quarto's lancht). The Ff have latch' d^ 
caught. 

61. arch, master, chief; a substantival use of the adjective. 

67. pight, determined, resolved; an old past tense of pitch. 
Cf. Troilus and Cressida, v. 10. 24 : 

" You vile abominable tents. 
Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains." 

curst, angry, sharp; the same word as cursed. 

69. Thou unpossessing bastard. " Thus the secret poison 
in Edmund's own heart steals forth; and then observe poor 
Gloucester's ' Loyal and natural boy,' as if praising the crime 
of Edmund's birth " (Coleridge). 

unpossessing : since a bastard cannot inherit. 

75. practice. Cf. note on i. 2. 198. 

77. If they not thought : a common construction in E. E. 
The auxiliary was not required when the negative* preceded the 
verb. See Abbott, § 305, and cf. iv. 2. 2. 

79. fastened, determined. 

80. got, i.e. begot. Cf. iii. 4. 151. 

87. capable, legally able to inherit. The New English Dic- 
tionary gives the following quotation from Guillim's Heraldry 
(1610), " Bastards are not capable of their fathers patrimony." 



150 KING LEAR [Act Two 

99. consort, company, set; accented on the last syllable. 

101. put on, incited to. 

102. expense, the spending, expenditure. 

103. Regan takes her cue from Goneril. She is perhaps 
even more repulsive than her sister, for she is cringingly spite- 

^ ful, and lacks courage as well as initiative. " Regan is not, 
in fact, a greater monster than Goneril, but she has the power 
of casting more venom " (Coleridge). 

108. 'Twas my duty : the crowning touch of Edmund's sub- 
lime hypocrisy. 

109. bewray, reveal, with no sense of perfidy, as now. 
Cf.. iii. 6. 118. 

his practice, Edgar's plot. 

113. make your own purpose . . . , carry out your own 
design, availing yourself as you please of my power. 

115. virtue and obedience doth. A singular verb is common 
in E. E. after two nouns which enforce the same idea or are 
not meant to be thought of separately. Cf. iii. 4. 150 and 158. 

121-130. Regan interposes to explain on her own account the 
reason of their visit. It is not necessary to hold that Regan 
interrupts Cornwall, much less that the interruption is " char- 
acteristic." She could not behave to Cornwall in the overbear- 
ing manner that Goneril does to Albany. Cornwall's remark is 
complete in itself, and Regan merely takes it up and adds to it, 
as she is the person mainly concerned in their visit. It was to her 
that both her father and sister had written. Moreover, we are 
distinctly told in the following scene that it is the Duke's dis- 
position " not to be rubb'd nor stopp'd." Cf. also ii. 4. 94-96. 

121. threading dark-eyed night. Note the pun. There is 
another instance of it in King John, v, 4. 11, " Unthread the 
rude eye of rebellion." 

122. poise, weight, moment. 

125. which. The antecedent is some such word as " letters " 

understood. The relative is used with great freedom in E. E. 

127. attend dispatch, await to be dispatched. Cf. ii. 4. 36. 

SCENE 2 

The events of this scene are not important in themselves, 
though they emphasize Regan's and Cornwall's hostility to 
Lear. They are essentially preparatory to the fourth scene 
of this act. 



Scene Two] NOTES 151 

1. dawning, morning. 

9. Lipsbury pinfold. This phrase remains unexplained. 
The suggestion received with most favor is that " It may be a 
coined name, and it is just possible that it might mean the teeth, 
as being the pinfold within the lips "(Nares) ; cf. epKos odbvTuv. 
This explanation, however, is not entirely satisfactory. There 
is probably an allusion to some place of which record has been 
lost. 

16-17. three-suited. . . . Some of Kent's allusions are 
explained by a passage in Ben Jonson's Silent Woman, iii. 1, in 
which a rich wife rails at her husband in the following terms : 
" Who gives you your maintenance, I pray you.^* Who allows 
you your horse-meat, and man's meat.^ your three suits of 
apparel a year.'^ your four pair of stockings, one silk, three 
worsted?" Cf. also Middleton's Phoenix, iv. 3 (quoted by 
Steevens) : " How's this "^ Am I used like a hundred-pound 
gentleman .f* " Three-suited, menials being generally allowed 
three suits a year ; hundred-pound, a term of reproach implying 
poverty; worsted-stocking, likewise implying poverty or menial 
employment, silk stockings being invariably worn by people 
who could afford them. 

18. lily-livered. Cf. iv. 2. 50, " Milk-livered man." The 
liver being regarded as the seat of courage, a bloodless liver 
was said to betoken cowardice. Cf. 2 Henry IV, iv. 3. 113: 
" left the liver white and pale, which is the badge of pusilla- 
nimity and cowardice." 

action-taking, settling disputes by law rather than by the 
sword; hence likewise " cowardly," " mean-spirited." 

19. glass-gazing, looking in the mirror, foppish. 
superserviceable, above his work (Wright). Johnson and 

Schmidt give " over-officious." 

20. one-trunk-inheriting, possessing enough for one trunk 
only. For inheriting, see Glossary. 

26. addition. See note on i. 1. 138. 

34-35. sop o' the moonshine: perhaps an allusion to an old 
dish of eggs cooked in oil, called " eggs in moonshine," re- 
ferred to in Gabriel Harvey's Pierce's Supererogation (1593) and 
other contemporary works. 

35. cullionly, rascally, wretched, like a cullion. 

35-36. barber-monger, a frequenter of barbers' shops, a fop. 

39. vanity the puppet. " Vanity " was a cbmmon character 
in the old Moralities. 



152 KING LEAR [Act Two 

41. carbonado, slash, hack; literally, make into a car- 
bonado, i.e. a piece of flesh cut crosswise and grilled. 

42. come your ways, come on. 
45. neat, foppish, spruce. 

48. With you. Kent purposely takes Edmund's " matter " 
in the sense of " cause of quarrel." 

goodman, a familiar name of address, used contemptuously. 

49. flesh, initiate in bloodshed; primarily, to initiate in 
the taste of flesh, as hunting-dogs. 

59. disclaims in, disowns. 

69-70. zed ! thou unnecessary letter. Cf . Ben Jonson's Eng- 
lish Grammar (ed. Gifford and Cunningham, iii, p. 435) : " Z is 
a letter often heard amongst us, but seldom seen," its place 
being commonly taken in writing by S. The letter Z was 
often omitted in the dictionaries of the time. 

71. unbolted, i.e. unsifted ; hence, coarse. " Unbolted 
mortar is mortar made of unsifted lime, and to break the 
lumps it is necessary to tread it by men in wooden shoes " 
(Toilet). 

81. intrinse, intricate. 

84. turn their halcyon beaks ... An allusion to the old 
idea that the kingfisher, if hung up by the neck, always turned 
so as to face straight against the wind. 

87. epileptic, distorted with a grin. 

88. Smile, smile at. See note on i. 1. 163. 

89-90. Goose . . . Camelot. Large flocks of geese were 
bred on Sarum Plain near Cadbury, in Somersetshire, the tra- 
ditional site of Camelot; and defeated knights were required 
to report at King Arthur's Court there; but the connection 
between these allusions is obscure, 

98. The keynote of Kent's character, and the source of all 
his troubles. Cf. ii. 4. 42. 

101. some, with the force of the indefinite article, a survival 
of the O. E. sum. 

103. constrains the garb Quite from his nature, carries the 
assumed manner to a wholly unnatural extent. 

107. These kind of knaves. See Kellner, §§ 167-172. 

109. observants, obsequious courtiers. Similarly observance 
= homage {As You Like It, v. 2. 102), and observe = to show 

respect to, as in "the observed of all observers" {Hamlet^ 
iii. 1. 162). Note that observants is accented on the first syllable. 

110. nicely, punctiliously. See Glossary. 



Scene Two] NOTES 153 

112. aspect, accented on the second syllable, as always in 
Shakespeare, Both aspect and influence have an astrological 
reference. 

120. win your displeasure, etc., i.e. win you in your dis- 
pleasure to ask me to be a plain knave {i.e. a flatterer). 

124. upon his misconstruction, through his misunderstand- 
ing me. 

125. conjunct, in agreement with him. Cf. v. 1. 12. 

128. worthied him, made him appear worthy. 

129. For him attempting who was self-subdued, for attack- 
ing one who had not really been subdued by him, but who had 
fallen. 

130. in the fleshment of, being fleshed with, made eager. 
Cf. note on 1. 50. 

133. Ajax is their fool : either, Ajax is a fool compared with 
them, i.e. is outdone by them in bragging; or, a man like the 
plain, blunt Ajax is the kind of man these rogues and cowards 
always try to make a fool of. 

145. colour, sort, kind. 

148-152. His fault . . . punish'd with. Omitted in the 
Ff, which read for 1. 152, " The king his master needs must 
take it ill." 

161. ruhh'd, hindered, obstructed; a term in the game of 
bowls, the noun ruh signifying anything that hinders a bowl's 
course. Cf. King John, iii. 4. 128 : 

" For even the breath of what I mean to speak 
Shall blow each dust, each straw, each little rub. 
Out of the path." 

162. watched, kept awake. Cf. " o'er-watch'd," 1. 177. 
164. out at heels. Cf. " out at elbows." 

167. approve, confirm, prove the truth of. Cf. i. 1. 186. 

168-169. out of heaven's . . . sun, a proverbial expression 
for a change from better to worse. The earliest known in- 
stance of it occurs in the Proverbs of John Heywood, 1546 (ed. 
Sharman, 1874, p. 115) : 

" In your running from him to me, yee runne ' 

Out of God's blessing into the warme sunne." 

Cf. also Lyly's Euphues (ed. Arber, pp. 196 and 320). But 
the origin of this " common saw " is not known. Hanmer said 



\ 



154 KING LEAR [Act Two 

it was applied to those who are turned out of house and home 
to the open weather, and Johnson suggested that it was used 
of men dismissed from a hospital or house of charity. A 
recent explanation — that " the proverb refers to the haste of 
the congregation to leave the shelter of the church immediately 
after the priest's benediction, running from God's blessing into 
the warm sun " — need net be treated seriously. For the idea 
of the proverb, cf. Psalms, Hi. 8. 

175-177. Many explanations of this difficult sentence have 
been suggested. Some hold that the lines are a portion of 
Cordelia's letter read aloud by Kent. Others correct the 
syntax, reading " she'll " for " shall " ; and taking " state- 
seeking " as a compound word. Others, again, accept the in- 
completeness of the sentence and ascribe it to Kent's being 
" weary and o'erwatched," the halting syntax indicating that 
Kent is dropping off to sleep. The text is apparently corrupt, 
and some words or lines may have been omitted. 

SCENE 3 

" Edgar's assumed madness serves the great purpose of 
taking off part of the shock which would otherwise be caused 
by the true madness of Lear " (Coleridge). 

Bedlam beggars or Tom o' Bedlams (i. 2. 148), also known 
as Abraham-men, were convalescent or harmless patients of 
Bedlam asylum who were turned out to wander or beg. The 
custom was in vogue in Shakespeare's time, but appears to 
have ceased about the middle of the seventeenth century. (See 
note, iii. 6. 78-79.) The following account of an Abraham-man, 
quoted by Steevens from Dekker's Bell-man of London, 1608, is 
an interesting parallel to Shakespeare's description of Edgar: 
" He sweares he hath been in Bedlam, and will talke fran- 
tickely of purpose : you see pinnes stuck in sundry places of 
his naked flesh, especially in his armes, which paine he gladly 
puts himself to, only to make you believe he is out of his wits. 
He calls himselfe by the name of Poore Tom, and comming near 
any body cries out. Poor Tom is a-cold. Of these Abraham-men, 
some be exceeding merry, and doe nothing but sing songs 
fashioned out of their own braines : some will dance, others will 
doe nothing but either laugh or weepe ; others are dogged and 
so sullen both in loke and speech, that spying but a small 
company in a house, they boldly and bluntly enter, compelling 
the servants through fear to give them what they demand." 



Scene Four] NOTES 155 

I, 3. proclaim' d, port. Cf. ii. 1. 62 and 82. 

6. am bethought, am minded, intend. 

10. elf, mat, tangle, — as an elf might do. 

17. object, appearance. 

20. Turlygod, apparently a common name for a Bedlam 
beggar; perhaps an English variation of Turlwpin, the name 
of a similar class of beggars in France in the fourteenth cen- 
tury. 

SCENE 4 

This great scene brings us to the crisis of Lear's anguish. 
Finding Regan and Cornwall unexpectedly absent from their 
own home, Lear has followed them to Gloucester's castle. 

7. cruel, with a play upon crewel, worsted ; apparently a 
common pun at the time. 

II. nether-stocks, literally stockings; another pun. Cf. 
1 Henry IV, ii. 4. 130, " I'll sew nether stocks and mend them 
and foot them too." Breeches appear to have been called 
" over-stocks " or " upper-stocks." 

24. upon respect, deliberately, upon consideration. 

25. Resolve, inform, satisfy. Cf. resolution, i. 2. 108. 
28. commend, deliver. See Glossary. 

33. spite of intermission, though my business was thus 
interrupted. 

34. on, in accordance with, on the ground of; this sense, 
which is very common in Shakespeare, arises from the tem- 
poral sense " immediately after." Cf. iii. 7. 77. 

42. Admirable as is Kent's character in point of honesty and 
manliness, he is an unfortunate messenger for Lear to have 
chosen. He has Lear's hastiness and want of tact in an exag- 
gerated degree, and he only prejudices his master's cause. 
In a sense all Lear's friends are his enemies, as they play into 
Goneril's and Regan's hands. 

46-53. Winter's . . . year. Omitted in the Qq. 

52. dolours: another pun, suggested by (money) "bags" 
in 1. 50. The same pun occurs in The Tempest, ii. 1. 18-19 and 
Measure for Measure, i. 2. 50. 

54, 55. mother and Hysterica passio were the popular and 
medical names for the complaint now known as hysteria. The 
use of these terms was probably suggested by a passage in 
Harsnet's Declaration of Popish Impostures, 1603, to which 
Shakespeare is otherwise indebted in this play. Lear's anguish 



156 KING LEAR [Act Two 

of heart makes him ascribe to himself the complaint which, 
according to Harsnet, " riseth of a winde in the bottome of the 
belly, and proceeding with a great swelling, causeth a very 
painful collicke in the stomach, and an extraordinary giddiness 
in the head " (quoted by Bishop Percy). Hence Lear's words, 
" climbing sorrow " and " swells up towards my heart." 

63. How chance was a common construction in questions 
for " how chances it that." " Here chance takes no inflection 
and almost assumes the character of an adverb " ( New Eng. 
Did.). Cf. Merry Wives, v. 5. 230, " How chance you went 
not with Master Slender.? " 

68-69. school to an ant . . . winter. See Proverbs, vi. 6-8. 
A king's followers are only summer friends; Lear has "so 
small a train " because he is in adversity. 

72. stinking, referring likewise to Lear's adversity. Malone 
quotes in illustration All's Well, v. 2. 4, etc. : " I am now, sir, 
muddied in fortune's mood, and smell somewhat strong of her 
strong displeasure. . . . Truly fortune's displeasure is but 
sluttish, if it smell so strongly as thou speakest of." 

79. sir, man; frequently so used as a common noun in 
Shakespeare. 

85-86. After referring to the wise man flying, the Fool adds 
that the wise man who is such a knave as to run away is in 
reality a fool, while on the other hand the fool who remains is 
no knave. The antecedent to that is knave. 

89. Deny, refuse. 

90. fetches, subterfuges, tricks. Note the play on the word 
in 1. 92. 

106-110. Lear's generous attempt to excuse Cornwall sug- 
gests that he is mellowing with his misfortunes. The " fiery 
quality " that he complains of is one of his own strongest char- 
acteristics, and he himself was " unremovable and fixed " when 
he disinherited Cordelia and banished Kent. His misfortunes 
have so far dazed him that he almost seems to be learning self- 
control. But the sight of Kent, and the thought of the indig- 
nity thus done him in his messenger, throw him back on his 
old impetuosity. 

107. office, duty. 

111. more headier. For the double comparative, see note 
on i. 1. 80. The comparative has here merely an intensive 
force, " more headier " meaning " very heady," " too heady." 
Cf. Cymbeline, iii. 4. 164, " the harder heart." Heady = 
impetuous. 



Scene Four] NOTES 157 

112. To take, for taking. This gerundial infinitive is com- 
mon in E. E. 

115. remotion, removal. 

120. cry sleep to death, put an end to sleep. 

123. cockney, a pampered, aflFected woman. The context 
suggests that the word is used also in the sense of " cook " ; 
but there is no evidence to show that it had ever any such mean- 
ing. See Glossary. 

137. An allusion to the story of Prometheus, who was 
chained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture fed on 
his liver. 

141-142. The literal meaning is the opposite of what is 
intended. The sense, however, is clear, — You rather fail to 
value, are more likely to undervalue. 

142-147. Say, how . . . blame. Omitted in the Qq. 

157. unnecessary, of no account, useless. 

165. top, head. 

young bones, a fairly common phrase in Elizabethan litera- 
ture for an " unborn child." 

166. taking, malignant, infecting, blasting; " used of the 
malignant influence of superhuman powers " (Schmidt). Cf. 
iii. 4. 61, and Hamlet, i. 1. 163: 

" then no planets strike. 
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm." 

174. tender-hefted, tenderly fitted, delicately framed. Heft 
is an old form for haft, a handle. 

181. bond of childhood. Lear himself is now constrained 
to refer to the " bond of childhood." Cf. Cordelia's words, 
i. 1. 95. 

182. Effects, manifestations. Cf. i. 1. 133. 

184. So far Regan has said nothing to incense Lear. She 
has been cold and heartless, but she wants the courage to show 
herself in her true light before the arrival of her sister. Once 
she has Goneril's presence to support her, she can screw herself 
up to actions which are a maddening sequel to the praises 
Lear has just uttered. 

186. approves. See note on ii. 2. 167. 

194. Allow, approve of. 

" When Lear calls upon the heavens to avenge his cause, 
* for they are old like him,' there is nothing extravagant or 
impious in this sublime identification of his age with theirs ; for 



\i 



158 KING LEAR [Act Three 

there is no other image which could do justice to the agonising 
sense of his wrongs and his despair" (Hazlitt). 

203. much less advancement, a much less respectable 
punishment. 

219. sumpter, literally a packhorse; used in the secondary- 
sense of " drudge." 

248. slack, neglect, be careless in their attendance on. 

259-261. I.e. Goneril, wicked as she is, appears well favored 
in comparison with Regan; it is something to be said for 
Goneril that there is another even more wicked. 

267. " Observe that the tranquillity which follows the first 
stunning of the blow permits Lear to reason " (Coleridge). 

268. superfluous, possessed of more than what is necessary. 
289. The disjointed syntax, the short words, and their 

directness show Lear's difficulty in expressing himself. In this 
awful picture of passion the very structure of the lines refiects 
the incoherence of Lear's rage. He begins by asking Heaven 
for patience, but in the next breath asks to be touched with 
noble anger, and, struggling against his gentler impulses, 
defiantly threatens the " terrors of the earth." 

295. For his particular, as to him himself. Cf. Troilus and 
Cressida, ii. 2. 9, " As far as toucheth my particular," i.e. as 
far as I myself am concerned. 

308. a desperate train. Not a fair description of Lear's 
present attendants, Kent and the Fool. But see iii. 7. 16-17. 

309. incense, incite, provoke. 

ACT III — SCENE 1 

So far, everything has gone well with Regan and Goneril. 
In this scene we have the first hint of their retribution, in the 
announcement that the King of France has planned an inva- 
sion. But though the tide is turning against Regan and 
Goneril, Lear's lot becomes only more pitiable. The agitation 
and tempest in his own mind are symbolized in the raging of 
the elements. 

6. main, apparently in the uncommon sense of mainland, 
though other instances of this use have been pointed out in 
E. E., but not in Shakespeare. 

7-15. tears . . . take all. Omitted in the Ff. 

10. little world of man. An allusion to the old theory 
according to which man — the " microcosm, " gr little world — 



Scene Two] NOTES 159 

was an epitome of the universe or great world — the " macro- 
cosm." This theory was the basis of the astrological belief, 
so often alluded to in this play, in the connection of the move- 
ments of the planets with the fortunes of men. 

12. cub-drawn, i.e. " with udders all drawn dry," " sucked 
and hungry," as in As You Like It, iv. 2, 115, 127. 

18. upon the warrant of my note, on the strength of my 
information. 

19. dear, important, momentous ; cf. i. 4. 294. 

22-29. who have . . . furnishings. Omitted in the Qq. 
23-24. who. Which. See Abbott, § 266. 

24. speculations, observers ; an instance of abstract for 
concrete. Cf. iii, 4. 26. 

25. Intelligent, informative, giving information. Cf. iii. 
7. 12. 

26. snuffs, resentments, quarrels. " To take in snuff " was 
a regular phrase (used elsewhere in Shakespeare) for " to take 
offence at." 

packings, plottings. Cf. packs (confederacies), v. 3. 18, 
and the use of the verb ( = to arrange or manipulate fraudu- 
lently), as in the phrases " to pack a jury," " to pack cards." 

29. furnishings, outward signs. 

30-42. But, true . . . to you. Omitted in the Ff. 

43. / will talk further with you. An attempt to postpone or 
evade the matter. But Kent refuses to be put off. 

47. fear, doubt. Cf. v. 1. 16. 

53-54. in which your pain That way, I'll this, i.e. your work 
of search lies that way, while I'll go this. 

SCENE 2 

2. hurricanoes, waterspouts. 

3. cocks, weathercocks. 

4. thought-executing, doing execution with the speed of 
thought. 

8. germens, seeds of life. 

10. court holy-water, a proverbial phrase for flattery, fair 
words, " soft sawder." Cf. the French eau henite de cour. 

13. here's a night pities. This construction is frequently 
explained as due to the omission of the relative (see Abbott, 
§ 244) ; but it is really a survival of the construction called 
&irb KOLvov, in which one subject serves for two predicates, and 



160 KING LEAR [Act Three 

from which the relative clause was developed. See Kellner, 
§§ 109-111. Cf. i. 4. 64-65, iii. 4. 110-111, and iv. 3. 34-35. 

18. subscription, submission. Cf. subscribed, i. 2. 24. 

23, battles, battalions, as commonly in E. E. 

27-34. It is difficult to draw a satisfactory meaning from 
these verses, though the Fool's remarks have generally a deep 
significance. The best explanation is by that Furness : " A 
man who prefers or cherishes a mean member in place of a 
vital one shall suffer enduring pain where others would suffer 
merely a twinge. Lear had preferred Regan and Goneril to 
Cordelia." 

48-49. It is too great for man to suffer or to dread. 

54. simular man, i.e. a simulator. This is the reading of the 
Ff ; the Qq omit man, which makes simular a noun. 

57. practised. See note on i. 2. 198. 

58. concealing continents, shrouds of secrecy. For this 
use of continent in the sense of " that which contains," cf. 
Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 14. 40, " Heart, once be stronger 
than thy continent." 

58-59. cry These dreadful summoners grace. A common 
construction. Cf. " cry you mercy," iii. 4. 176 and iii. 6. 54. 

grace, mercy. 

60. More sinn'd against than sinning. Cf. the similar 
statement of (Edipus in the CEdipus Coloneus of Sophocles, 
U. 266-267 : 

iirel rd y epya fxov 

TreirovObT icrrl fiaXKop t) dedpaKdra. 

(" Since mine acts, at least, have been in suffering rather 
than in doing.") 

66. Denied, did not allow. Cf. note on ii. 4. 89. 

67. My wits begin to turn. Note the succession of Lear's 
statements as to his mental condition and their increasing 
definiteness. In i. 4. 248-249 he says : 

*' Either his notion weakens, his discernings 
Are lethargied — Ha ! waking .f* 'tis not so " ; 

in i. 5. 50-51 : 

" O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven ! 
Keep me in temper : I would not be mad ! " : 
in ii. 4. 221 : 

" I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad " ; 



Scene Foub] NOTES 161 

in ii. 4. 289: 

" O fool, 1 shall go mad ! " 

Now he says definitely, " My wits begin to turn." 

74-77. Apparently a variation of the first verse of -the 
Clown's song at the end of Twelfth Night: 

" When that I was and a little tiny boy. 
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, 
A foolish thing was but a toy. 

For the rain it raineth every day." 

80-95. Omitted in the Qq, and probably an actor's inter- 
polation. The verses are modelled on some well-known lines 
commonly called " Chaucer's Prophecy." They are referred 
to as by Chaucer in Puttenham's Art of English Poesie (ed. 
Arber, p. 232), but are certainly not his. See Skeat's Chaucer, 
vol. i, p. 46, where they are reprinted from Caxton. There is 
in the Bodleian (see Professor Skeat's letter to the Athenoeum, 
December 19, 1896) a MS. copy of this very prophecy with 
the heading " Prophecia Merlini doctoris perfecti." In 1 Henry 
IV, iii. 1. 150, Shakespeare speaks of " the dreamer Merlin 
and his prophecies." Some of Merlin's prophecies are given 
in Holinshed. 

SCENE 3 

The Gloucester plot is again taken up and interwoven more 
closely with the main story. Hitherto Gloucester has only 
hinted disapproval of Goneril's and Regan's conduct (ii. 4. 303), 
but now he definitely throws in his lot with Lear. He confides 
in Edmund, and so plays into the hands of his enemies. The 
parallelisms in the two stories become more marked. 

13. home, to the utmost, thoroughly. Cf. iii. 4. 16. 

power already footed. See iii. 1. 30-32. 

20. toward, near at hand. Cf. ii. 1. 12. 

22. forbid thee, which you were forbidden to do him. 

SCENE 4 

" O, what a world's convention of agonies is here ! All 
external nature in a storm, all moral nature convulsed, — the 
real madness of Lear, the feigned madness of Edgar, the 
babbling of the Fool, the desperate fidelity of Kent — surely 



162 KING LEAR [Act Three 

such a scene was never conceived before or since! Take it 
but as a picture for the eye only, it is more terrific than any 
which a Michael Angelo, inspired by a Dante, could have 
conceived, and which none but a Michael Angelo could have 
executed. Or let it have been uttered to the blind, the bowl- 
ings of nature would seem converted into the voice of conscious 
humanity. This scene ends with the first symptoms of posi- 
tive derangement; and the intervention of the fifth scene is 
particularly judicious, — the interruption allowing an inter- 
val for Lear to appear in full madness in the sixth scene " 
(Coleridge). 

28-36. Lear's affliction incites compassion in him for the 
poorest of his subjects. The finer elements in his character 
are brought out by his sufferings. " Expose thyself to feel 
what wretches feel " is utterly alien to the Lear of the first 
scene. Compare Gloucester's similar remark after he too has 
suffered (iv. 1. 70-72). 

31. loop'd, full of holes, loop-holed. Cf . 1 Henry I V, iv. 1. 71 : 

*' Stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence 
The eye of reason may pry in upon us." 

37. Fathom and half, as if he were taking soundings at 
sea, the idea being suggested apparently by the rain. 

47. Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind. 
Probably a line from an old song or ballad. Cf. Percy's Friar 
of Orders Grey, 1. 87. 

48. go to thy cold bed and warm thee. This phrase occurs 
also in The Taming of the Shrew, Induction, 1. 10. It was 
apparently proverbial. 

54-55. laid knives . . . pew. This passage likewise (cf. 
ii. 4. 54-55) seems to owe something to Harsnet's Declaration 
of Popish Impostures, 1603. Malone quotes from it a story of 
how an apothecary, in order to tempt a girl to suicide, " hav- 
ing brought with him ... a new halter, and two blades of 
knives, did leave the same upon the gallerie floore in her mais- 
ter's house " ; and how " it was reported that the devil layd 
them in the gallery that some of those that were possessed 
might either hang themselves with the halter or kill themselves 
with the blades." 

58. four-inched, four inches broad. 

59. five wits, not the five senses, but " common wit, imagi- 
nation, fantasy, estimation, and memory," according to a line 



Scene Four] NOTES 163 

in Stephen Hawes's Pastime of Pleasure (quoted by Malone). 
The two terms are often confounded, but Shakespeare keeps 
them distinct. Thus Sonnets, cxH : 

" But my five wits nor my five senses can 
Dissuade one fooHsh heart from serving thee." 

Cf. iii. 6. 60 and Twelfth Night, iv. 2. 92. 

61. star-blasting, being " struck " or bHghted by the influ- 
ence of the stars. 

taking. See note on ii. 4. 166. 

72. " What a bewildered amazement, what a wrench of the 
imagination, that cannot be brought to conceive of any other 
cause of misery than that which has bowed it down, and absorbs 
all other sorrow in its own ! His sorrow, like a flood, supplies 
the sources of all other sorrow." And again, " It is the mere 
natural ebullition of passion, urged nearly to madness, and that 
will admit no other cause of dire misfortune but its own, which 
swallows up all other griefs" (Hazlitt). 

77. Pelican daug hters. An allusion to the legend that 
young pelicans fed upon their parents' blood. The story occurs 
in the mediaeval Bestiaries, among others in the Ancren Riwle. 
Cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 146, and Richard II, ii. 1. 126. A similar 
allusion occurs in the old play of King Leir: 

" I am as kind as is the pelican 

That kills it selfe to save her yong ones lives." 

78. Pillicock — here suggested by " pelican " — was a term of 
endearment meaning " my pretty boy." There is perhaps an 
allusion to the old rhyme : , 

" Pillicock, Pillicock sat on a hill. 
If he's not gone, he sits there still." 

(Quoted by Collier from Gammer Gurtons Garland.) 
88. wore gloves in my cap, as his mistress's favors. 
103. Dolphin my boy. Apparently another allusion to a 

song. The saijie phrase occurs in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew 

Fair, v. 3, " He shall be Dauphin my boy." Steevens adducied 

a stanza from which he said it was taken : 

" Dolphin, my boy, my boy. 
Cease, let him trot by ; 
It seemeth not that such a foe 
From me or you would fly." 



164 KING LEAR [Act Three 

This was a stanza, he said, from a very old ballad written on 
some battle fought in France, and repeated to him by an old 
gentleman. Unfortunately, no trace of this ballad is discover- 
able. Dolphin is an old form of Dauphin. 

sessa, on ! an exhortation to speed. Cf . iii. 6. 77. 

109. the cat, i.e. the civet-cat. 

116. naughty, bad, disagreeable. See Glossary. 

120. Flibbertigibbet. The name of a fiend, probably sug- 
gested, like Smulkin, Modo, Mahu, and Frateretto (iii. 6. 7) 
below, by a passage in Harsnet's Declaration of Popish Impos- 
tures. The word, however, was fairly common at the time, 
though in different forms, e.g. " flebergebet," and it was used 
in the sense of a gossiping or frivolous woman. Cf. Scott's 
Kenilworth, ch. x. 

122. the web and the pin, an old name for cataract. Cf. 
Winter's Tale, i. 2. 291 : 

" and all eyes 
Blind with the web and pin but theirs." 

125. S. Withold, Saint Vitalis, who was invoked against 
nightmare. The Ff have Swithold, a reading preserved by 
several editors. 

old, i.e. wold, a down. Old is a common provincial pro- 
nunciation ; the form is often found in E. E. 

126. nine-fold, " nine familiars, in the form of ' foals ' " 
(Herford). 

129. aroint thee, begone, away with thee. The origin of 
the word is unknown. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 6. 
136. wall-newt, the lizard. 
water, water-newt. 

138. sallets, salads ; a common form in E. E. 

139. ditch-dog, a dead dog thrown into a ditch. 

144-145. A quotation from the romance of Sir Bevis of 
Hamptoun: 

" Rattes and myce and suche small dere 
Was his meate that seven yere." 

deer. See Glossary. 

164. prevent, with the old sense of anticipating, and so 
defeating by forestalling. 

169. He said. See i. 1. 157-159. 

172. outlaw'd from my blood. One of the legal conse- 



Scene Six] NOTES 165 

quences of outlawry is " corruption of blood," i.e. inability to 
inherit or bequeath. Cf. 1 Henry VI, iii. 1. 159 : 

" Our pleasure is 
That Richard be restored to his blood." 

In Gloucester's words " he sought my life," Edgar has the 
first explanation of his father's attitude. 

176. O, cry you mercy, I beg your pardon; a common 
phrase in the Elizabethan dramatists. Cf. iii. 2. 58. 

182. soothe, humor, as frequently in Shakespeare. 

187. Child Rowland . . . These lines may perhaps be 
taken from the ballad of " Child Rowland and Burd Ellen," 
fragments of which are given in Child's English and Scottish 
Ballads, 1861, vol. i. Two of the lines (p. 251) are: 

" With fi, fi, fo, and fum 

I smell the blood of a Christian man." 

For British, see Introduction, p. ix. 

SCENE 5 

Edmund now appears at the height of his villainy and of his 
fortune. He has already supplanted his elder brother in his 
father's regard and has been declared heir ; he now supplants 
his father himself and is made, by Cornwall, Earl of Gloucester. 

3. censured, judged (not necessarily judged adversely). 
This is the usual meaning in Shakespeare. Cf. the similar 
tendency in the word criticism. 

4-5. something fears me, frightens me somewhat. 

8. provoking merit, set-a-work . . . , a strenuous merit (in 
Edgar) incited by a reprehensible badness in Gloucester. 

12. approves him, proves him to be. Cf. note on i. 1. 187. 

intelligent, well-informed, though it may have the same force 
as in iii. 1. 25 and iii. 7. 12. 

18. Edmund's plans have succeeded. Cf. iii. 2. 24-25. 

21. comforting, assisting. See Glossary. 

SCENE 6 

4. have, plural by attraction. 

7. Frateretto. See note on iii. 4. 120. 

7-8. Nero . . . darkness. Said to be an allusion to Rabe- 
lais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, ii. 30, where Nero is described as 



166 KING LEAR [Act Three 

a fiddler and Trajan as an angler. There is another reference 
to Rabelais in As You Like It, iii. 2. 238, " You must borrow 
me Gargantua's mouth." 

8. innocent, a mild term for simpleton, fool. 

13-15. No, he's a yeoman . . . him. Omitted in the Qq. 
It has been surmised that in writing this passage Shakespeare 
was humorously thinking of his own experience. In 1599 his 
family had been granted a coat of arms by the College of 
Heralds. Probably it was Shakespeare himself who suggested 
to his father that these insignia of the gentleman be applied 
for. His father however, does not fall into the Fool's category 
of " mad yeoman " ; for the application was in John Shake- 
speare's name, and consequently William was not made " a 
gentleman before him." 

18-59. The foul fiend . . . let her 'scape? Omitted in the Ff. 

20. horse's health, the horse being specially liable to disease. 
Cf. Taming of the Shrew, iii. 2. 50-56. 

25-26. Wantest thou eyes. . . . This is a doubtful pas- 
sage, possibly corrupt. It may mean " Dost thou want to be 
stared at by the fiend while thou art on trial," or " Canst thou 
not see the fiend at thy trial ? " 

27. Come o'er the bourn, Bessy. The first line of a ballad 
by William Birche, written in 1558, the year of the queen's 
accession, and entitled A Songe betwene ihe Queues Majestie 
and Englande. It is printed in full in the Harleian Miscellany, 
vol. X, p. 260, edition of 1813. The first lines are: 

" Come over the born, Bessy, 
Come over the born, Bessy, 
Swete Bessey come over to me." 

bourn, brook ; a variant of burn. 

32. Hopdance : probably suggested by " Hoberdidance," 
the name of another fiend in Harsnet's Declaration. Hobbidi- 
dance (iv. 1. 62) apparently is another form of the same word. 

33. white herring, fresh herring. 
40. Bench, sit on the judge's bench. 

43-46. Steepest or wakest thou . . .? Apparently another 
snatch of a song. 

45. minikin, dainty, pretty. 

47. Pur! Perhaps only an imitation of the noise made by a 
cat, though, as Malone pointed out, Purre is the name of on(^ 
of the devils mentioned in Harsnet's book. 



Scene Six] NOTES 167 

54-55. / took you for a joint-stool, a proverbial expression, 
of which the precise meaning is not now known. 

57. store. Some editions read " stone," others " stuff." 

60. five wits. See note on iii. 4. 59. 

61-62. See ii. 4. 233 and 274, and iii. 2. 37. 

65. " When he exclaims in the mad scene ' The little dogs ' 
etc., it is passion lending occasion to imagination to make 
every creature in league against him, conjuring up ingratitude 
and insult in their least-looked-for and most galling shapes, 
searching every thread and fibre of his heart, and finding out 
the last remaining image of respect or attachment in the bottom 
of his breast only to torture and kill it ! " And again, " All 
nature was, as he supposed, in a conspiracy against him, and 
the most trivial and insignificant creatures concerned in it were 
the most striking proofs of its malignity and extent " (Hazlitt). 

72. brack: cf. note on i. 4. 125. 

lym, a bloodhound ; called also a lyam or lime-hound, " from 
the learn or leash in which he was held till he was let slip." 

73. trundle-tail, a dog with a curled tail. 

78-79. tky korn is dry. The allusion is explained by the fol- 
lowing passage in Aubrey's Natural History of Wiltshire (quoted 
by Halliwell-Phillipps) : " Till the breaking out of the Civill 
Warres, Tom o' Bedlams did trauell about the countery. They 
had been poore distracted men that had been putt into Bedlam, 
where recovering to some sobernesse, they were licentiated to 
goe a begging. . . . They wore about their necks a great horn 
of an oxe in a string or bawdric, which, when they came to an 
house for almes, they did wind ; and they did putt the drink 
given them into this horn, whereto they did putt a stopple." 
Edgar's meaning, of course, is that he has come to the end of 
his role. 

85. Persian, i.e. rich and gorgeous ; spoken ironically. Cf. 
Horace's " Persicos apparatus," Odes, i. 38. 

92. I'll go to bed at noon. The Fool's last speech, by some 
critics supposed to mean that he feels a premonition of death, 

102. Stand in assured loss, will assuredly be lost. Cf. 1. 
107, stand in hard cure, will be hard to cure, is almost incurable ; 
ii. 4. 261, iv. 1. 4, etc. In this common idiom stand is an em- 
phatic substitute for the auxiliary. 

104-108. Oppressed . . . bekind. Omitted in the Ff. 

105. sinews : used in the sense of nerves. Cf. Venus and 
Adonis, 903, " A second fear through all her sinews spread." 



168 KING LEAR [Act Four 

109-122. When we . . . lurk. This soliloquy is not in the 
Ff. Its genuineness has been doubted on the score of its 
style. In point of its rhythm and verse mechanism generally, it 
is inferior to the other rhymed passages in this play. But, on 
the other hand, it has much closer connection with the action 
of the play than an interpolation would be likely to have, and 
certain parts, e.g. " he childed as I father' d," are undoubtedly 
in the Shakespearean manner. The inferiority of the opening 
lines prejudices us against the passage, but there is nothing to 
disprove its genuineness. 

117. He childed as I father' d, even as he had cruel children, 
so I had a cruel father. 

118. bewray. Cf. ii. 1. 109, " Show thyself when false opinion, 
which now does thee wrong, thinks of thee justly and recalls 
thee to reconciliation." 

121. What will hap more, whatever else happens. 

SCENE 7 



vt 



The Gloucester plot again supplements the main story. The 
yillainy of Edmund is at last unmasked, but not until Glouces- 
er, like Lear, has suffered by filial treachery. His mutila- 
tion on the stage has been the subject of much criticism. 
Johnson considered it " an act too horrid to be endured in 
dramatic exhibition " ; and Coleridge declared that " in this 
one point the tragic in this play has been urged beyond the 
outermost mark and ne plus ultra of the dramatic." There 
is no denying the repulsiveness of the blinding of Gloucester. 
It is no extenuation that there are other instances, as several 
editors point out, of mutilation on the Elizabethan stage. Yet 
it may be urged that a bold and direct treatment of this second 
case of barbarity was necessary after the terrible scene on the 
heath, as a bare narration of it would not, under the circum- 
stances, have conveyed an adequate impression. 

11. bound, ready, prepared ; as perhaps also in 1. 8. 

13. my lord of Gloucester, Edmund's new title (see iii. 
5. 18-19) ; purposely contrasted with Oswald's use of the 
title. 

17. questrists, searchers ; not found again in Shakespeare. 

18. lords dependants. Some editors read lord's dependants, 
i.e. Gloucester's dependants. The reading in the text means 
lords dependent directly upon Lear. 



Scene One] NOTES 169 

24. pass upon, pass sentence upon. Cf. Measure for Measure, 
ii. 1. 19, " The jury, passing on the prisoner's life." 
29. corky, shrivelled, withered with age. 

39. quicken, come to life. 

40. favours, features : " the features of your host." See 
Glossary. 

32. simple, straightforward. This is the reading of the 
Qq ; the Ff read simple-answer d. 
47. set down, written. 
54. / am tied to the stake. Cf . Macbeth, v. 7. 1-2 : 

" They have tied me to a stake : I cannot fly. 
But, bear-like, I must fight the course." 

The course is a technical term in bear-baiting for each attack 
of the dogs ; cf. " round " in boxing, " bout," etc. 

56-66. Gloucester is turned to bay. 

57. Pluck out his . . . eyes. One of the most striking of 
the many instances of dramatic irony in the play. Gloucester 
unwittingly mentions his own fate. 

63. stern. The Qq have dearn, — an obsolete word mean- 
ing dark, drear, dire, — which occurs also in Pericles, iii. 15. 

65. All cruels else subscribed (the Quarto reading), probably 
" all their other cruelties being forgiven." Cruels is an instance 
of the Elizabethan use of an adjective as a noun ; see Kellner, 
§ 236. Subscribed, yielded, hence condoned, forgiven ; cf . i. 2. 
24. The Ff read : All cruels else subscribe, probably meaning 
" All other cruel creatures, except you, forgive." 

87-90. The climax of Gloucester's agony and of Regan's 
brutality. 

89. overture, disclosure. 

92. prosper. Cf. the transitive use in iv. 6. 30. 

99-107. ril never . . . help him. Omitted in the Ff. 

lOl. old, usual, natural. 

106. flax and white of eggs, a common application at that 
time for wounds. 

ACT IV — SCENE 1 

This scene is a direct sequel to the closing passage of the 
previous act. The help that Edgar gives to his father, who 
is in a sense the cause of the sufferings of both, is an exact 
counterpart to Cordelia's solicitude for Lear. 



170 KING LEA.R [Act Pour 

1. known to be, conscious of being. 

6. laughter, i.e. a happy or better condition. 

6-9. Welcome . . . blasts. Omitted in the Qq. 

22. Our means secure us, etc. Our resources make us 
confident and careless, and our unalloyed defects prove our 
benefits. For this common E. E. sense of secure, cf. Othello, 
i. 3. 10, " I do not so secure me in the error," and for com- 
modities, cf . 2 Henry I V, i. 2. 278, " I will turn diseases to 
commodity." 

24. abused, deceived. Cf. iv. 7. 53, 77, and v. i. 11. This 
sense is retained in the negative disabuse. 

54. daub it further, keep up the disguise. 

62. Obidicut, probably suggested by Hoberdicut, one of 
Harsnet's fiends. 

Hobbididance. See note on iii. 6. 32. 

64. mopping and mowing, making grimaces ; the two words 
are practically synonymous. Cf. The Tempest, iv. 1. 47, 
" Will be here with mop and mow." Malone quotes from 
Harsnet, " If she have a little helpe of the mother, epilepsie, or 
cramp, to teach her . . . make antike faces, grinne, mow and 
mop hke an ape, then no doubt the young girle is owleblasted 
and possessed." 

71. slaves, treats as a slave, makes subservient to his desire. 

This passage is Gloucester's counterpart to Lear's utterance 
on pomp, iii. 4. 33-36. 

SCENE 2 

V^ The clue to the denouement is now given in thevadulterous 
love of Goneril for Edmund, j and in the conduct\f Albany. 
When we last saw Albany (ii 4) he appeared in an unfavor- 
able light as a passive witness of his wife's schemes, or at best 
only able to hint his disapproval; and in this scene Goneril 
begins by treating him as a " milk-livered man." But the 
monstrous conduct of Goneril at last awakens him to think for 
himself and to take up firmly a line of his own. 

2. Not met us. Cf. 1. 53 and ii. 1. 77. 

12. cowish, cowardly. 

14-15. Our wishes, etc. The wishes we expressed on the way 
hither may be realized. 

28. My fool usurps my body. The reading of the Ff. There 
are three distinct readings of this phrase in the Qq. Ql, un- 
corrected, has " My foot usurps my body " ; Ql, corrected. 



Scene Two] NOTES 171 

has " A fool usurps my bed ; " while Q2 reads " My foot usurps 
my head." 

29. Goneril refers to Albany's indifference to her. This 
proverbial expression is given in the Proverbs of John Heywood, 
1546, " It is ... A poor dog that is not worth the whistling " 
(ed. Sharman, 1874, p. 76). 

31-50. I fear . . . deep. Omitted in the Ff. 

31. fear, fear for. Cf. Richard III, i. 1. 137, " his physicians 
fear him mightily." 

32. it. See note on i. 4. 236. 

33. border'd certain, contained with certainty. 

34. sliver, break off, strip off. Cf. Macbeth, iv. 1. 28, 

" slips of yew 
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse." 

39. savour, have a relish for. 

42. head-lugg'd, drawn by the head. 

50. Milk-liver' d. See note on ii. 2. 18. 

53-59. that not knows't . . . doe she so. Omitted in the 
Ff. 

54. villains. Probably an allusion to Lear ; possibly to Al- 
bany, France, or Gloucester. 

58. moral, moralizing. Cf. the use of moral as a verb in As 
You Like It, ii. 7. 29, 

" I did hear 
The motley fool thus moral on the time." 

59-67. Albany's violent speeches are obscure. Some 
scholars believe that he speaks of Goneril inconsistently, — 
first as a woman who has taken on a fiendish shape (" bemon- 
stering " her " feature "), and then as a fiend in woman's shape. 
Others believe that throughout he addresses her as a fiend who 
has " self-covered " himself in the inappropriate form of 
woman. The following notes are in harmony with the latter 
view. 

60. Proper deformity seems not in the fiend, deformity 
seems not so horrid in a fiend, because proper to his immoral 
character, as it seems in a woman. 

62-69. Omitted in the Ff. 

63. Be-monster not thy feature, do not take on the outward 
form of a woman, unnatural to a devil. 

Were't my fitness, were it fit for me, a man. 



172 KING LEAR [Apt Four 

65. apt, ready. 

68. your manhood! mew! The uncorrected sheetk^of the 
Ql and Q2 read your manhood now, — a reading adopted by 
some editors ; the corrected sheets read your manhood mew, — 
explained as " suppress, restrain your manhood." The reading in 
the text, your manhood! mew! is that given in the second edition 
of the Cambridge Shakespeare (1891), in accordance with a sug- 
gestion in Mr. Daniel's introduction to the facsimile reprint of Q 1 
(1885). Here mew is an interjection of disgust and contempt. 
There are many contemporary instances of it. 

73. remorse, pity, as generally in Shakespeare. 

74. bending, turning, directing; cf. ii. 1. 48. 
79. nether, earthly. 

83. One way, in so far as Cornwall has been got out of the 
road — an idea to which she reverts in 11. 86-87, "another way, 
the news is not so tart." 

85. all the building in my fancy, all my castles in the air. 
The fact that she is a widow and that Gloucester is with her may 
frustrate all my hopes and make life hateful to me. 

91. back, i.e. going back. 

SCENE 3 

This scene is omitted in the Ff . It is accordingly not essential 
to the development of the plot. But it stands in dramatic con- 
trast to the previous scene, while the description of Cordelia's 
grief on learning what has happened is one of the most beautiful 
of the gentler passages in the play. 

21. Were like, a better way, were like sunshine and rain, 
but in a more beautiful manner. Several explanations and 
emendations of this difficult phrase have been given. War- 
burton reads " like a wetter May," and Malone, " like a better 
May; " but neither of these gives better sense than the original 
reading. Many editors omit the comma after " like." 

33. clamour moisten' d, i.e. tears succeeded her cries of 
indignation at her sisters. This is Capell's emendation of the 
Quarto reading. And clamour moistened, her. 

34-37. A recurrence to the astrological theories expressed 
earlier in the play by Gloucester. 

36. self, i.e. self-same. This adjectival use of " self," which 
is a survival from O. E., was still common in Shakespeare's 
time. 



Scene Five] NOTES 173 

44. elbows, jostles, torments ; literally, " thrusts with the 
elbow." 

46. foreign casualties, hazards abroad. 

53. dear, important. See note on i. 4. 294 and on iii. 1. 19. 

SCENE 4 

This scene likewise does not further the action of the drama ; 
but it reintroduces Cordelia, who has not appeared since the 
very first scene. 

4. hor-docks, the reading of the Qq ; the Ff have hardokes 
and hardocks. The plant has not been identified. Many edi- 
tions adopt the emendation burdocks. 

cuckoo-flowers, a name given to several wild flowers which 
bloom when the cuckoo is heard ; here probably the cowslip. 

6. century. Generally defined as " a troop of a hundred 
men," as in Coriolanus, i. 7. 3. But century was an old variant 
of sentry — the Neio English Dictionary cites an example of this 
form as late as 1759 — and this is perhaps the meaning of the 
word here. 

10. helps, cures; a common meaning in E. E. and later. Cf. 
Tennyson's Locksley Hall, 1. 105 : 

" But the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that 
Honour feels." 

15. anguish : used commonly in E. E. of physical as well as of 
mental suffering. Cf. iv. 6. 6. 

26. important, importunate. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 1. 73-75, " if 
the prince be too important, tell him there is measure in every 
thing." 

SCENE 5 

This scene likewise does not advance the plot ; but it prepares 
us for the denouement by showing theLincreasing jealousy of 
Goneril and Regan. J 

13. nighted, benighted, darkened. 

18. The fidelity of Oswald to Goneril is the only thing 
that at all relieves the utter baseness and blackness of his 
character. 

25. ceillades, amorous glances. See Glossary. 

29. take this note, take note of this. 



174 KING LEAR [Act Four 



SCENE 6 

This important scene is divided roughly into three parts. 
The jfirst, which contains the famous description of Dover Cliff, 
is a direct continuation of the opening scene of this act; the 
second brings into comparison Lear and Gloucester in the 
height of their suffering; and the third, unhke the others, is 
devoted mainly to the unravelling of the plot. 

10. better spoken. See note on i. 1. 275. 

11-24. The following criticism of the description of Dover 
Cliff was made by Johnson : " The description is certainly not 
mean, but I am far from thinking it wrought to the utmost ex- 
cellence of poetry. He that looks from a precipice finds himself 
assailed by one great and dreadful image of irresistible destruc- 
tion. But this overwhelming idea is dissipated and enfeebled 
from the instant that the mind can restore itself to the observa- 
tion of particulars, and diffuse its attention to distinct objects. 
The enumeration of the choughs and crows, the samphire-man, 
and the fishers counteracts the great effect of the prospect, as it 
peoples the desert of intermediate vacuity, and stops the mind in 
the rapidity of its descent through emptiness and horror." A 
similar opinion is recorded by Boswell in his Life of Johnson. 
" No, Sir; it should be all precipice — all vacuum. The crows 
impede your falL The diminished appearance of the boats, and 
other circumstances, are all very good description, but do not 
impress the mind at once with the horrible idea of immense 
height. The impression is divided; you pass on, by compu- 
tation, from one stage of the tremendous space to another." 

This criticism amounts simply to a condemnation of the 
" romantic " method of description. The " classical" manner 
for which Johnson here pleads aims at a unity of impression 
by means of generalized statements. Avoiding the mention of 
particulars, so as not to give them undue importance or to take 
away from the general effect, it leaves these particulars' to be 
filled in by the reader's imagination. The romantic manner, 
on the other hand, follows an opposite course, and trusts to 
particulars as a means of conveying the general impression. 
There can be no question which manner is the more vivid in 
its effect, and accordingly better suited for the drama. A 
generalized description could present only a vague image of 
altitude. It would never make us feel the giddy height. 

16. samphire, sea-fennel, an herb which grows on cliffs and 



Scene Six] NOTES 175 

is used for pickling. The gathering of samphire was a regular 
trade in Shakespeare's time, and Dover Cliff appears to have 
been particularly famous for the herb. Cf. Drayton's Poly^ 
olbion, the Eighteenth Song (Spenser Society Publications, 1889, 
p. 300) : 

" Rob Dovers neighboring cleeues of sampyre, to excite 
His dull and sickly taste, and stirre vp appetite." 

The common Elizabethan spelling was sampire (so the Qq and 
Ff). 

19. cock, i.e. cock-boat. 

21. unnumber'd, innumerable. See note on i. 1. 262. 

28. another purse. See iv. 1. 67. 

33-34. Note the confusion of constructions. 

39. My snuff, the useless remnant of my life. The metaphor 
is taken from the smoking wick of a candle. 

42-43. The illusion of death may actually cause death. For 
conceit, see Glossary. 

46. Edgar here assumes a different character, and pretends 
that he has come upon Gloucester at the bottom of the cliff. 

47. pass, i.e. pass away. Cf. v. 3. 313. 
53. at each, one on the top of the other. 

57. bourn, boundary, i.e. to the sea. 

58. a-height, i.e. on high, aloft. 
shrill-gorged, shrill-throated. 

L 71. whelk'd, rugged as with whelks. 

r 72. father, a term of address to an old man, though used by 
Edgar to insinuate his relationship. See v. 3. 192. 

73. clearest, most pure, as frequently in Shakespeare. Cf. 
The Tempest, iii. 3. 82, " a clear life." 

81. The safer sense, i.e. sanity; safer = sounder, saner. 

87-93. Lear's thought wanders from collecting recruits 
(" pre^-money ") to archery, then to mouse-catching, then to 
battle, then back again to archery and hawking, and then to 
sentry duty. 

88. crow-keeper, one who keeps crows off fields. The 
comparison to a crow-keeper appears to have been common 
in describing an awkward archer ; cf . Ascham, Toxophilus 
(ed. Arber, p. 145), " An other coureth downe, and layeth out 
his buttockes, as though he shoulde shoote at crowes." 

88-89. clothier's yard, a " cloth-yard shaft," a common name 
for an arrow of the long-bow. Cf. the ballad of Chevy Chase: 



176 KING LEAR [Act Foub 

" An arrow that a cloth-yarde was lang 
To the harde stele halyde he." 

Cf. also The Lay of the Last Minstrel, iv. 15. 

92. brown bills, halberds painted brown, used by foot- 
soldiers. 

clout, the mark shot at in archery. Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, 
iv. 1. 136, " Indeed, a' must shoot nearer, or he'll never hit the 
clout." 

98-99. had white hairs, etc., had the wisdom of age while yet 
a boy. 

108. trick, characteristic, peculiarity. 

111. What was thy cause? What were you accused oi? 

137. piece, equivalent to " masterpiece." Cf. The Tempest, 
i. 2. 56, " Thy mother was a piece of virtue " ; and Antony 
and Cleopatra, v. 2. 99, " to imagine An Antony, were nature's 
piece 'gainst fancy." 

140. squiny, squint, make eyes at. Lear does not yet re- 
cognize that Gloucester is blind. He is incapable in his mad- 
ness of sympathizing with, or even appreciating, Gloucester's 
fate. 

148. are you there with me ? is that what you mean .? 

157-158. handy-dandy. A children's game in which the on- 
lookers are asked to say in which hand an object, that has 
frequently been changed from one hand to the other, finally 
remains ; hence equivalent here to " choose which you will." 

169-174. Plate sin . . . lips. Omitted in the Qq. 

172. able, warrant, vouch for. 

187. The " reason " in Lear's madness is but fitful. He has 
no sooner begun to moralize to Gloucester on the folly of this 
world than his thoughts again wander. 

this', this is. 

block, probably the shape of a hat ; hence the succeeding 
thought, the hat being of felt. 

199. a man of salt, i.e. a man of tears. Cf. Hamlet, i. 2. 
154, " the salt of most unrighteous tears " ; and Coriolanus, 
V. 6. 93, " for certain drops of salt." 

212. speed you, i.e. God speed you. 

214. vulgar, commonly known. 

217. the main descry, etc., the appearance of the main body 
is hourly expected. 

226. art, acquired faculty, experience. 



Scene Seven] NOTES 177 

feeling, heartfelt; a quasi-passive sense. 

227. pregnant, ready, disposed. Cf. ii. 1. 78. 

228. biding, i.e. biding-place. 

230. To boot, and boot. " By the repetition Gloucester 
wishes to convey both meanings of ' to boot,' in addition (to my 
thanks) and (the bounty of heaven) be your help" (Herford). 

231. framed, formed. 

233. thyself remember, remember and confess thy sins. 

240. Edgar adopts the Somersetshire dialect. It is com- 
monly put into the mouths of rustics in the Elizabethan drama. 
Chill is a contraction of " ich will," chud of " ich would " ; while 
the V in vurther, voile, etc. represents the southwestern pro- 
nunciation of /. Che vor ye stands for " I warn you," and ise 
for " I shall." 

247. costard, a humorous term for the head, literally a' large 
kind of apple. Cf. the modern " nut." 

ballow, cudgel ; a dialectal word. 

251. foins, thrusts in fencing. 

256. British. So the Qq. The Ff read " English." Cf. 
iii. 4. 189. 

264. Leave, by your leave. A similar expression occurs in 
Cymheline, iii. 2. 35, " Good wax, thy leave," and in Twelfth 
Night, ii. 5. 103, " By your leave, wax." 

275. servant, a regular term for a lover. 

278. undistinguish'd space, undefinable scope. See note on 
i. 1. 262. 

will, desire. 

281. rake up, cover over, bury. 

284. death-practised, whose death was plotted. See note on 
i. 2. 198. 

286. ingenious, sensitive, lively. 

SCENE 7 

This is another of the great scenes of the play. In point of 
bearing on the action of the drama, it is less important than 
i. 4 or ii. 4, the scenes with which it ranks in dramatic power. 
But the play contains no more affecting picture than that of 
Cordelia's care for Lear, his restoration to reason in her presence, 
and his recognition of her. 

6. suited, clothed. 

7. memories, memorials ; abstract for concrete. 



178 KING LEAR [Act Five 

9. Yet to he known shortens . . . , to be known as yet would 
impair the plan I have made. 

17. child-changed, changed by the conduct of his children. 

24. temperance, calmness. 

38. Against, at, before, over against ; as commonly in E. E. 

42. aZZ, altogether; used adverbially. Cf. i. 1. 102. 

47. that, so that. 

53. abused, deceived. Cf. 1. 77 and iv. 1. 24. 

65. mainly, perfectly. See Glossary. 

67. nor . . . not, one of the commonest forms in E. E. of 
the double negative. Cf. v. 3. 290. 

70. " The ' so I am ' of Cordelia gushes from her heart like 
a torrent of tears, relieving it of a weight of love and of sup- 
posed ingratitude which had pressed upon it for years " 
(Hazlitt). 

80. even o'er, account for, fill in fully, remember clearly. 
The metaphor is apparently from the language of accountants. 
Craig compares Macbeth, v. 8. 60-62 : 

" We shall not spend a large expense of time 
Before we reckon with your several loves. 
And make us even with you." 

85-97. Holds it true . . . fought. Omitted in the Ff, 
like the concluding lines of iii. 7. 

91. It will be remembered that Kent had declared his inten- 
tion to " shape his old course in a country new " (i. 1. 190). 

96. periody end aimed at. Cf. Henry VIII, i. 2. 209, 

" There's his period. 
To sheathe his knife in us." 



ACT V — SCENE 1 

This scene is a preparation for the catastrophe. I It shows 
how the evildoers are hastening to their destruction! What- 
ever Albany's sympathy for Lear, he has to oppose tafe French 
invasion; but his life is plotted against by Edmund, whose 
patriotism is subordinate to his ambition to assume the su- 
preme power ; jfand Goneril and Regan are now so bitterly di- 
vided by jealousy of Edmund that the issue of the battle is to 
them of secondary interest. 

4. constant pleasure, fixed, final resolve. Cf. i. 1. 44. 



Scene Two] NOTES 179 

13. bosom' d, in her confidence. Cf. iv. 5. 26. 

as far as we call hers, as far as anything is hers ; to the 
utmost. 

16. Fear, doubt. Cf. iii. 1. 47, and contrast iii. 5. 4 and 
iv. 2. 31. 

23-27. Where I could not he honest, etc. In these words 
Albany gives the explanation of his weakness at the beginning 
of the play. But he is not the weak character that Goneril 
thought him, or that he is so often said to be. 

26. holds, emboldens : " not in so far as France emboldens 
{i.e. supports) the king." 

32. ancient of war, experienced soldiers, veterans. 

36. convenient, befitting, expedient. 

50. o'erlook, i.e. " look o'er." Cf. i. 2. 40. 

54. greet the time, meet the occasion. 

56. jealous, suspicious. 

61. carry out my side, succeed in my plan, win my object. 
The metaphor is taken from games. Mason quotes from Mas- 
singer's Great Duke of Florence (iv. 2) : 

" If I hold your cards, I shall pull down the side ; 
I am not good at the game." 

68. Shall, i.e. they shall. Cf. i. 1. 213. 

69. Stands on me, requires me. See note, iii. 6. 102. 

SCENE 2 

Mr. Spedding suggested {New Shalspere Society's Transac- 
tions, 1877-1879, pt. i) that the acts of King Lear have been 
wrongly divided, and that the fourth act ends at the fourth line 
of this scene. According to his arrangement, the battle would 
take place between the fourth and fifth acts. He was prompted 
to this suggestion by the unsatisfactory description of the battle 
compared with other similar descriptions in Shakespeare. " In 
other cases a few skilful touches bring the whole battle before 
us — a few rapid shiftings from one part of the field to another, 
a few hurried greetings of friend or foe, a few short passages 
of struggle, pursuit, or escape, give us token of the conflict 
which is raging on all sides ; and, when the hero falls, we feel 
that his army is defeated. A page or two does it ; but it is 
done." But in this scene " the army so long looked for, and 
on which everything depends, passes over the stage, and all 



180 KING LEAR [Act Five 

our hopes and sympathies go with it. Four lines are spoken. 
The scene does not change ; but ' alarums ' are heard, and 
• afterwards a retreat,' and on the same field over which that 
great army has this moment passed, fresh and full of hope, 
reappears, with tidings that all is lost, the same man who last 
left the stage to follow and fight in it." The suggested re- 
arrangement is plausible, for it would remove the defects 
alluded to without altering a word of the text. But there is 
nothing to show that the scene is not as Shakespeare left it. 
A fuller description of the battle would have tended to divert 
the attention from the main interest of the story. Indeed the 
dramatic purpose would have been as adequately fulfilled by 
a bare narration of the result of the battle. Moreover, the 
circumstances of the play demand the sympathy of the audi- 
ence for the French army rather than for the British, and the 
sturdy Elizabethan patriotism probably weighed with Shake- 
speare in making the description so meager. 

11. Ripeness, readiness. Cf. Hamlet, v. 2. 234, " if it be 
not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all." 

SCENE 3 

" The wheel is come full circle." All the chief characters, 
who, contrary to Shakespeare's general custom, had been 
brought on to the stage at the very beginning of the play to 
participate in an event on which the whole play turns, re- 
appear in this last scene to " taste the wages of their virtue 
and the cup of their deservings." The denouement, as in so 
many of Shakespeare's plays, is rapidly achieved, and some- 
what resembles, with its bustle and wealth of incident, the 
closing scene of Hamlet; and, as in Hamlet, the guiltless fall 
with the guilty. 

2. their greater pleasures, the wills of these greater personso 

3. censure, pass sentence on. See note on iii. 5. 3. 
18. packs, confederacies. See note on iii. 1. 26. 

23. fire us hence like foxes. An allusion to the practice of 
smoking foxes out of their holes. 

24. good-years. See Glossary. 

35. write happy, call yourself happy. Cf. All's Well, ii. 3. 
208, " I must tell thee, sirrah, I write man." 

49. To pluck . . . side, to win the affection of the common 
people. 



Scene Three] NOTES 181 

50. impress'd, pressed into our service. 

lances, i.e. lancers. 

65. immediacy, close connection with nothing intervening, 
i.e. direct tenure of authority. 

68. addition, title. Cf. i. 1. 138. 

72. That eye, etc. " Alluding to the proverb : ' Love being 
jealous makes a good eye look asquint' " (Steevens). 

74. stomach. The stomach was supposed to be the seat of 
anger, as the liver was of courage (ii. 2. 18). Cf. Titus An- 
dronicus, iii. 1. 234, " To ease their stomachs with their bitter 
tongues." 

76. the walls are thine: apparently a metaphor signifying 
complete surrender. Wright thinks the words refer to Regan's 
castle, mentioned in 1. 245. Theobald conjectured " they are 
all thine." 

79. The let-alone, the prohibition. As events prove, Goneril 
has already taken means to frustrate Regan's wishes. 

103. virtue, valor, as frequently in E. E. Cf. Latin virtus. 

124. cope, commonly used transitively in E. E., as here. 

129. I.e. It is my privilege, as I am a knight, to engage you, 
who are a traitor. 

132. fire-new, brand-new ; fresh from the fire or forge. 

137. descent, " that to which one descends, the lowest part " ; 
the only known instance of this use. 

138. toad-spotted, treasonable as the toad is spotted. 

143. say, proof. See Glossary. 

144. nicely. See Glossary. 

Edmund's character is not all bad. He could have refused to 
fight a nameless antagonist, but he manfully will not avail him- 
self of this excuse. His subsequent statement, " Some good I 
mean to do, despite of mine own nature," is not out of keeping 
with his character, as it would have been with Goneril's or 
Regan's. Great as is his villainy, he had to some extent been 
prompted to it by the disabilities which he incurred by his 
birth and the taunts which he had to suffer even from his father. 

147. hell-hated, hated like hell. 

151. Save him, save him! Albany is anxious not to have 
Edmund killed on the spot, so that his guilt may be made 
known before his death. 

practice, false play, treachery. Cf. i. 2. 198. 

155. this paper, Goneril's love letter to Edmund ; see iv 
o. 267. 



18^ KING LEAR [Act Five 

160. Ask me not what I know. The Ff assign this speech to 
Edmund, the Qq give it to Goneril, and modern editors are 
divided in their choice. Those who follow the Ff ask why 
the question, " Know'st thou this paper.? " should be ad- 
dressed to Goneril, considering Albany has already said to her, 
" I perceive you know it." But this objection is not conclusive. 

194. success, issue, result. Cf. i. 2. 157. 

196. flaw'd, broken. Cf. ii. 4. 288. 

204-221. This would . . . slave. Omitted in the Ff. 

204. period, termination ; note the different sense in iv. 7. 96. 

205-207. but another, etc., but another story, amplifying 
what is already too much, would make what is much even more, 
and so pass the extreme limits. 

234. manners: treated as a singular; but contrast i. 4. 184 
and iv. 6. 264. 

235. It is fitting that at this juncture attention should be 
drawn to Lear by Kent, who at the beginning of the play had 
professed his constant devotion to the king. 

255. fordid, destroyed. Cf. 1. 291. 

262. stone, a crystal mirror. 

263. the promised end, i.e. of the world. Mason compares 
St. Mark, xiii. 12 and 19. For image of that horror, cf. Macbeth, 
ii. 3. 82-83, 

" up, up, and see 
The great doom's image ! " 

285. Lear's thoughts again begin to wander. He cannot 
realize what Kent's devotion has been, and even the announce- 
ment of Regan's and Goneril's death has no effect. 

288. your first of difference, beginning of your change. 

290. Nor no man else, i.e. No, nor is any other man welcome. 

301. boot, increase, enhancement. 

305. poor fool, i.e. Cordelia; a common term of endearment. 
Some (e.g. Sir Joshua Reynolds) think that Lear refers to his 
Fool ; but the Fool was not " hanged " ; he has long since passed 
out of the play (iii. 6) ; and it is not likely that Lear would 
think of him when dying of grief at the death of Cordelia. 

313. pass. Cf. iv. 6. 47. 

322. My master, i.e. Lear. Kent's devotion is unbroken. 

323-326. This concluding speech is given in the Qq to Al- 
bany, in the Ff to Edgar. It is assigned more fittingly to the 
latter. 



APPENDIX A 



THE SOURCES OF THE PLOT 

* 

The Lear story is here given as told by Raphael Holin- 
shed, in his Chronicles (1577 ; second edition, 1587), by Hig- 
gins in The Mirror for Magistrates (1574), and by Spenser 
in the Faerie Queene (1590), and is followed by the passage 
in Sidney's Arcadia (1590), which is the undoubted original of 
the Gloucester story. 

I. Holinshed's Chronicles. — The Historic of Britain, 
second edition,^ Book ii, chapter 5, pp. 12-13. 

Leir the sonne of Baldud was admitted ruler ouer the Britaines in 
the yeare of the world 3105, at what time Joas reigned in Juda. 
This Leir was a prince of right noble demeanor, gouerning his land 
and subiects in great wealth. He made the towne of Caerleir now 
called Leicester, which standeth vpon the riuer of Sore. It is 
written that he had by his wife three daughters without other 
issue, whose names were Gonorilla, Regan, and Cordeilla, which 
daughters he greatly loued, but specially Cordeilla the yoongest 
farre aboue the two elder. When tliis Leir therefore was come to 
great yeres, and began to waxe vnweldie through age, he thought 
to vnderstand the affections of his daughters towards him, and 
preferre hir whome he best loued, to the succession ouer the king- 
dome. Whervpon he first asked Gonorilla the eldest, how well 
she loued him : who calling hir gods to record, protested that she 
loued him more than hir owne life, which by right and reason should 
be most deere vnto hir. With which answer the father being well 
pleased, turned to the second, and demanded of hir how well she 
loued him : who answered (confirming hir saiengs with great 
othes) that she loued him more than toong could expresse, and 
farre aboue all other creatures of the world. 

Then called he his yoongest daughter Cordeilla before him, and 
asked of hir what account she made of him, vnto whome she made 
this answer as foUoweth : "Knowing the great loue and fatherlie 
zeale that you haue alwaies borne towards me (for the which I 

^ The evidence of other plays shows that Shakespeare used the second 
edition ; see Shakspere's Holinshed, The Chronicle and the Historical Plays 
compared, by W, G, Boswell-Stone. 

183 



184 APPENDIX A 

maie not answere you otherwise than I thinke, and as my conscience 
leadeth me) I protest vnto you, that I haue loued you euer, and 
shall continuallie (while I liue) loue you as my naturall father. 
And if you would more vnderstand of the loue that I beare you, 
assertaine your selfe, that so much as you haue, so much you are 
worth, and so much I loue you, and no more." The father being 
nothing content with this answere, married his two eldest daughters, 
the one vrito Henninus the duke of Cornewall, and the other vnto 
Maglanus the duke of Albania, betwixt whome he willed and 
ordeined that his land should be deuided after his death, and the 
one halfe thereof immediatelie should be assigned to them in hand : 
but for the third daughter Cordeilla he reserued nothing. 

Nevertheless it fortuned that one of the princes of Gallia (which 
now is called France) whose name was Aganippus, hearing of the 
beautie, womanhood, and good conditions of the said Cordeilla, 
desired to haue hir in mariage, and sent ouer to hir father, requiring 
that he might haue hir to wife : to whome answer was made, that 
he might haue his daughter, but as for anie dower he could haue 
none, for all was promised and assured to hir other sisters already. 
Aganippus notwithstanding this answer of deniall to receiue anie 
thing by way of dower with Cordeilla, tooke hir to wife, onlie moued 
thereto (I saie) for respect of hir person and amiable vertues. This 
Aganippus was one of the twelue kings that ruled Gallia in those 
dales, as in the British historie it is recorded. But to proceed. 

After that Leir was fallen into age, the two dukes that had mar- 
ried his two eldest daughters, thinking it long yer the gouernment 
of the land did come to their hands, arose against him in armour, 
and reft from him the gouernance of the land, vpon conditions to be 
continued for terme of life : by the which he was put to his portion, 
that is, to liue after a rate assigned to him for the maintenance of 
his estate, which in processe of time was diminished as well by 
Maglanus as by Henninus. But the greatest griefe that Leir 
tooke, was to see the vnkindnesse of his daughters, which seemed to 
thinke that all was too much which their father had, the same being 
neuer so little : in so muche that going from the one to the other, he 
was brought to that miserie, that scarslie they would allow him one 
seruaunt to wait vpon him. 

In the end, such was the vnkindnesse, or (as I maie saie) the 
vnnaturalnesse which he found in his two daughters, notwithstand- 
ing their faire and pleasant words vttered in time past, that being 
constreined of necessitie, he fled the land, & sailed into Gallia, there 
to seeke some comfort of his yongest daughter Cordeilla, whom 
before time he hated. The ladie Cordeilla hearing that he was 
arriued in poore estate, she first sent to him priuilie a certeine summe 
of monie to apparell himself e withall, and to reteine a certeine 
number of seruants that might attend vpon hina in honorable wise, 
as apperteined to the estate which he had borne : and then so 
accompanied, she appointed him to come to the court, which he 



APPENDIX A 185 

did, and was so ioifullie, honorablie, and louinglie receiued, both 
by his Sonne in law Aganippus, and also by his daughter Cordeilla, 
that his hart was greatlie comforted : for he was no lesse honored, 
than if he had beene king of the whole countrie himselfe. 

Now when he had informed his sonne in law and his daughter in 
what sort he had beene vsed by his other daughters, Aganippus 
caused a mightie armie to be put in a readinesse, and Ukewise a 
great nauie of ships to be rigged, to passe ouer into Britaine with 
Leir his father in law, to see him againe restored to his kingdome. 
It was accorded, that Cordeilla should also go with him to take 
possession of the land, the which he promised to leaue vnto hir, as 
the rightfuU inheritour after his decesse, notwithstanding any for- 
mer grant made to hir sisters or to their husbands in anie maner of 
wise. 

Herevpon, when this armie and nauie of ships were readie, Leir 
and his daughter Cordeilla with hir husband tooke the sea, and 
arriuing in Britaine, fought with their enimies, and discomfited 
them in battell, in the which Maglanus and Henninus were slaine ; 
and then was Leir restored to his kingdome, which he ruled after 
this by the space of two yeeres, and then died, fortie yeeres after 
he first began to reigne. His bodie was buried at Leicester in a 
vaut vnder the chanell of the riuer of Sore beneath the towne. 

The Sixth Chapter. — Cordeilla the yoongest daughter of Leir 
was admitted Q. and supreme gouernesse of Britaine in the yeere 
of the world 3155, before the bylding of Rome 54 ; Uzia was then 
reigning in Juda, and Jeroboam ouer Israeli. This Cordeilla after 
hir fathers deceasse ruled the land of Britaine right worthilie dur- 
ing the space of fine yeeres, in which meane time hir husband died, 
and then about the end of those fine yeeres, hir two nephewes 
Margan and Cunedag, sonnes to hir aforesaid sisters, disdaining to 
be vnder the gouernment of a woman, leuied warre against hir, and 
destroied a great part of the land, and finallie tooke hir prisoner, 
and laid hir fast in ward, wherewith she tooke suche griefe, being a 
woman of a manlie courage, and despairing to recouer libertie, 
there she slue hirselfe, when she had reigned (as before is mentioned) 
the tearme of fine yeeres. 

II. The Mirror for Magistrates. — From the story of 
Queene Cordila, written by John Higgins, edited by Hasle- 
wood, 1815, vol. i, pp. 124-132. 

6. My grandsire Bladud hight, that found the bathes by skill, 
A fethered King that practis'd high to soare. 
Whereby hee felt the fall, God wot against his will, 
And neuer went, road, raygnd, nor spake, nor flew no more. 
After whose death my father Leire therefore 

Was chosen King, by right apparent heyre, 
Which after bmlt the towne of Leircestere. 



186 APPENDIX A 

7. Hee had three daughters, first and eld'st hight Gonerell, 
Next after her his yonger Ragan was begot : 

The third and last was I the yongest, nam'd Cordell. 

Vs all our father Leire did loue to well, God wot. 

But minding her that lou'd him best to note, 
Because hee had no sonne t'enioy his land, 
Hee thought to guerdon most where fauour most hee fand. 

8. What though I yongest were, yet men mee iudg'd more wise 
Than either Gonerell or Ragan more of age, 

And fairer farre : wherefore my sisters did despise 
My grace and giefts, and sought my wrecke to wage. 
But yet though vice on vertue dye with rage. 
It cannot keepe her vnderneath to drowne : 
For still she flittes aboue, and reaps renowne. 

9. My father thought to wed vs vnto princely peeres. 
And vnto them and theirs deuide and part the land. 
For both my sisters first hee cal'd (as first their yeares 
Requir'd), their minds, and loue, and fauoure t'vnderstand. 
(Quoth hee) all doubts of duty to aband, 

I must assay your friendly faithes to proue : 
My daughters, tell mee how you doe mee loue. 

10. Which when they aunswerd him. they lou'd their father more 
Then they themselues did loue, or any worldly wight, 

He praised them, and sayd hee would therefore 
The louing kindnes they deseru'd in fine requite. 
So found my sisters fauour in his sight. 

By flattery faire they won their fathers heart ; 

Which after turned hym and mee to smart. 

11. But not content with this, hee asked mee likewise 
If I did not him loue and honour v/ell. 

No cause (quoth I) there is I should your grace despise: 
For nature so doth binde and duty mee compell 
To loue you, as I ought my father, well. 

Yet shortely I may chaunce, if Fortune will, 

To finde in heart to beare another more good will. 

12. Thus much I sayd of nuptiall loues that ment, 
Not minding once of hatred vile or ire, 

And partly taxing them, for which intent 

They set my fathers heart on wrathfull fire. 

"Shee neuer shall to any part aspire 

Of this my realme (quoth hee) among'st you twayne : 
But shall without all dowry aie remaine." 



APPENDIX A 187 

Then to Maglaurus Prince, with Albany hee gaue 

My sister Gonerell, the eldest of vs all : 

And eke my sister Ragan to Hinniue to haue, 

And for her dowry Camber and Cornwall. 

These after him should haue his Kingdome aU. 

Betweene them both hee gaue it franke and free, 
But nought at all hee gaue of dowry mee. 

At last it chaunst a Prince of Fraunce to heare my fame. 
My beauty braue, my wit was blaz'd abroad ech where. 
My noble vertues prais'd mee to my fathers blame, 
Who did for flattery mee lesse friendly fauour beare. 
Which when tliis worthy Prince (I say) did heare, 

Hee sent ambassage, lik'd mee more then life, 

And soone obtayned mee to bee his wife. 

Prince Aganippus reau'd mee of my woe, 

And that for vertues sake, of dowryes all the best : 

So I contented was to Fraunce my father fro 

For to depart, and hoapt t'enioy some greater rest. 

Where lining well belou'd, my ioyes encreast : 

I gate more fauour in that Prince his sight, 

Then euer Princesse of a Princely wight. 

But while that I these ioyes so well enioy'd in Fraunce, 

My father Leire in Britayne waxt unweldy old. 

Whereon his daughters more themselues aloft t'aduance 

Desir'd the Realme to rule it as they wolde. 

Their former loue and friendship waxed cold. 

Their husbands rebels voyde of reason quite 
Rose vp, rebeld, bereft his crowne and right : 

Caus'd him agree they might in parts equall 

Deuide the Realme, and promist him a gard 

Of sixty Knights on him attending still at call. 

But in six monthes such was his hap to hard, 

That Gonerell of his retinue barde 

The halfe of them, shee and her husband reft, 
And scarce alow'd the other halfe they left. 

Eke as in Albany lay hee lamenting fates, 

When as my sister so sought all his vtter spoyle : 

The meaner vpstart courtiers thought themselues his mates, 

His daughter him disdayn'd and forced not his foyle. 

Then was hee fayne for succoure his to toyle 

With halfe his trayne to Cornwall, there to lie 

In greatest neede, his Ragans loue to try. 



188 APPENDIX A 

19. So when hee came to Cornwall, shee with ioy 
Receiued him, and Prince Maglaurus did the like. 
There hee abode a yeare, and liu'd without anoy : 
But then they tooke all his retinue from him quite 
Saue only ten, and shew'd him daily spite : 

Which he bewayl'd complayning durst not striue, 
Though in disdayne they last alow'd but fiue. 

20. What more despite could deuelish beasts deuise, 
Then ioy their fathers woefull days to see ? 
What vipers vile could so their King despise, 
Or so vnkinde, so curst, so cruell bee? 

From thence agayn hee went to Albany, 

Where they bereau'd his seruants all saue one, 
Bad him content him selfe with that, or none. 

21. Eke at what time hee ask'd of them to haue his gard, 
To gard his noble grace where so hee went : 

They cal'd him doting foole, all his requests debard, 
Demaunding if with life hee were not well content : 
Then hee to late his rigour did repent 

Gaynst mee, my sisters' fawning loue that knew, 
Found flattery false, that seem'd so faire in vew. 

22. To make it short, to Fraunce hee came at last to mee, 
And told mee how my sisters euell their father vsde. 
Then humbly I besought my noble King so free, 
That he would aide my father thus by his abusde : 
Who nought at all my humble hest refusde. 

But sent to euery coast of Fraunce for aide, 
Whereby King Leire might home bee well conueyde. 

23. The souldiours gathered from ech quarter of the land 
Came at the length to know the noble Princes will : 
Who did commit them vnto captaynes euery band, 
And I likewise of loue and reuerent meere good will 
Desir'd my Lord, he would not take it ill 

If I departed for a space withall. 

To take a part, or ease my father's thrall. 

24. Hee granted my request : Thence wee ariued here. 
And of our Britaynes came to aide likewise his right 
Full many subiects, good and stout that were : 
By-martiall feats, and force, by subiects sword and might, 
The British Kings were f ayne to yeeld our right : 

Which wonne, my father well this Realme did guide 
Three yeares in peace, and after that hee dyde. 



APPENDIX A 189 



III. Spensefs Faerie Queene. — Book ii, canto x, 27-32. 

27. Next him king Leyr in happie peace long raynd, 
But had no issue male him to succeed, 

But three faire daughters, which were well uptraind 
In all that seemed fitt for kingly seed ; 
Mongst whom his realme he equally decreed 
To have divided. Tho when feeble age 
Nigh to his utmost date he saw proceed. 
He cald his daughters, and with speeches sage 
Inquyrd, which of them most did love her parentage. 

28. The eldest, Gonorill, gan to protest, 

That she much more than her owne life him lov'd ; 
And Regan greater love to him profest 
Then all the world, when ever it were proov'd ; 
But Cordeill said she lov'd him as behoov'd : 
Whose simple answer, wanting colours fayre 
To paint it forth, him to displeasaunce moov'd, 
That in his crowne he counted her no hayre, 
But twixt the other twaine his kingdom whole did shayre. 

29. So wedded th'one to Maglan King of Scottes, 
And thother to the king of Cambria, 

And twixt them shayrd his realme by equall lottes ; 
But without dowre the wise Cordelia 
Was sent to Aggannip of Celtica. 
Their aged syre, thus eased of his crowne, 
A private life led in Albania 
With Gonorill, long had in great renowne, 
That nought him griev'd to beene from rule deposed downCc 

30. But true it is that, when the oyle is spent, 

The light goes out, and weeke is throwne away ; 
So when he had resignd his regiment. 
His daughter gan despise his drouping day, 
And wearie wax of his continuall stay. 
Tho to his daughter Regan he repayrd. 
Who him at first well used every way ; 
But when of his departure she despayrd. 
Her bountie she abated, and his cheare empayrd. 

31. The wretched man gan then avise too late, 
That love is not where most it is profest ; 
Too truely tryde in his extremest state. 
At last resolv'd likewise to prove the rest, 
He to Cordelia him selfe addrest, 



190 APPENDIX A 



Who with entyre affection him receav'd, 
As for her syre and king her seemed best ; 
And after all an army strong she leav'd, 
To war on those which him had of his realme bereav'd. 

32. So to his crowne she him restor'd againe, 

In which he dyde, made ripe for death by eld, 
And after wild it should to her remaine : 
Who peacefully the same long time did weld, 
And all mens harts in dew obedience held ; 
Till that her sisters children, woxen strong, 
Through proud arabition against her rebeld, 
And overcommen kept in prison long, 
Till weary of that wretched life her selfe she hong. 

IV. Sidney's Arcadia. — Book ii, chapter 10 ; edition of 1590, 
fol. 142-144. 

The pitifull state, and storie of the Paphlagonian vnkinde King, and 
his kind sonne, first related by the son, then by the blind father. 

It was in the kingdome of Galacia, the season being (as in the 
depth of winter) very cold, and as then sodainely growne to so 
extreame and foule a storme, that neuer any winter (I thinke) 
brought foorth a fowler child : so that the Princes were euen com- 
pelled by the haile, that the pride of the winde blew into their 
faces, to seeke some shrowding place within a certaine hollow rocke 
offering it vnto them, they made it their shield against the tempests 
furie. And so staying there, till the violence therof was passed, 
they heard the speach of a couple, who not perceiuing them (being 
hidde within that rude canapy) helde a straunge and pitifull 
disputation which made them steppe out ; yet in such sort, as 
they might see vnseene. There they perceaued an aged man, 
and a young, scarcely come to the age of a man, both poorely 
arayed, extreamely weather-beaten ; the olde man blinde, the 
young man leading him: and yet through all those miseries, in 
both these seemed to appeare a kind of noblenesse, not sutable to 
that affliction. But the first words they heard, were these of the 
old man. Well Leonatus (said he) since I cannot perswade thee to 
lead me to that which should end my griefe, & thy trouble, let me now 
entreat thee to leaue me : feare not, my miserie cannot be greater 
then it is, & nothing doth become me but miserie ; feare not the 
danger of my blind stieps, I cannot fall worse then I am. And 
doo not I pray thee, doo not obstinately continue to infect thee 
with my wretchednes. But flie, flie from this region, onely worthy 
of me. Deare father (answered he) doo not take away from me 
the onely remnant of my happinesse : while I haue power to doo 
you seruice, I am not wholly miserable. Ah my sonne (said he, 



APPENDIX A 191 



and with that he groned, as if sorrow straue to breake his hearte) 
how eiiill fits it me to haue such a sonne, acd how mucb doth thy 
kindnesse vpbraide my wickednesse ? These dolef ull speeches, and 
some others to Hke purpose (well shewing they had not bene borne 
to the fortune they were in,) moued the Princes to goe out vnto 
them, and aske the younger what they were? Sirs (answered he, 
with a good grace, and made the more agreable by a certaine noble 
kinde of pitiousnes) I see well you are straungers, that know not our 
miserie so well here knowne, that no man dare know, but that we 
must be miserable. In deede our state is such, as though nothing 
is so needfull vnto vs as pittie, yet nothing is more daungerous 
vnto vs, then to make our selues so knowne as may stirre pittie. 
But your presence promiseth, that cruelty shall not ouer-runne 
hate. And if it did, in truth our state is soncke below the degree 
of feare. 

This old man (whom I leade) was lately rightfuU Prince of this 
countrie of Paphlagonia, by the hard-hearted vngratefulnes of a 
sonne of his, depriued, not onely of his kingdome (wherof no for- 
raine forces were euer able to spoyle him) but of his sight, the riches 
which Nature graunts to the poorest creatures. Whereby, & by 
other his vnnaturall dealings, he hath bin driuen to such griefe, 
as euen now he would haue had me to haue led him to the toppe of 
this rocke, thence to cast himselfe headlong to death : and so would 
haue made me (who receiued my life of him) to be the worker of 
his destruction. But noble Gentlemen (said he) if either of you 
haue a father, and feele what duetifuU affection is engraffed in a 
sonnes hart, let me intreate you to conuey this afflicted Prince to 
some place of rest & securitie. Amongst your worthie actes it 
shall be none of the least, that a King, of such might and fame, and 
so vniustly oppressed, is in any sort by you relieued. 

But before they could make him answere, his father began to 
speake. Ah my sonne (said he) how euill an Historian are you, that 
leaue out the chiefe knotte of all the discourse? my wickednes, my 
wickednes. And if thou doest it to spare my eares, (the onely sense 
nowe left me proper for knowledge) assure thy selfe thou dost mis- 
take me. And I take witnesse of that Sunne which you see (with 
that he cast vp his blinde eyes, as if he would hunt for light,) and 
wish my selfe in worse case then I do wish my selfe, which is as 
euill as may be, if I speake vntruly ; that nothing is so welcome to 
my thoughts, as the publishing of my shame. Therefore know you 
Gentlemen (to whom from my harte I wish that it may not proue 
ominous foretoken of misfortune to haue mette with such a miser 
as I am) that whatsoeuer my sonne (6 God, that trueth binds me 
to reproch him with the name of my sonne) hath said, is true. But 
besides those truthes, this also is true, that hauing had in lawful 
mariage, of a mother fitte to beare royall children, this sonne (such 
one as partly you see, and better shall knowe by my shorte declara- 
tion) and so enioyed the expectations in the world of him, till he was 



19^ APPENDIX A 



growen to iustifie their expectations (so as I needed enuie no father 
for the chief e comfort of mortalitie, to leaue an other ones-self e 
after me) I was caried by a bastarde sonne of mine (if at least I be 
bounde to beleeue the words of that base woman my concubine, 
his mother) first to mislike, then to hate, lastly to destroy, to doo 
my best to destroy, this sonne (I thinke you thinke) vndeseruing 
destruction. What waies he vsed to bring me to it, if I should tell 
you, I should tediously trouble you with as much poysonous hypo- 
crisie, desperate fraude, smoothe malice, hidden ambition, & smil- 
ing enuie, as in anie lining person could be harbored. But I list 
it not, no remembrance, (no, of naughtines) delights me, but mine 
own ; & me thinks, the accusing his traines might in some manner 
excuse my fault, which certainly I loth to doo. But the conclusion 
is, that I gaue order to some seruants of mine, whom I thought as 
apte for such charities as my selfe, to leade him out into a forrest, 
& there to kill him. 

But those theeues (better natured to my sonne then my selfe) 
spared his life, letting him goe, to learne to Hue poorely : which he 
did, giuing himselfe to be a priuate souldier, in a countrie here by. 
But as he was redy to be greatly aduanced for some noble peeces 
of seruice which he did, he hearde newes of me : who (dronke in 
my affection to that vnlawfull and vnnaturall sonne of mine) 
suffered my self so to be gouerned by him, that all fauours and 
punishments passed by him, all offices, and places of importance, 
distributed to his fauo rites ; so that ere I was aware, I had left 
my self nothing but the name of a King : which he shortly wearie 
of too, with many indignities (if any thing may be called an indig- 
nity, which was laid vpon me) threw me out of my seat, and put 
out my eies ; and then (proud in his tyrannie) let me goe, nether 
imprisoning, nor killing me : but rather delighting to make me 
feele my miserie ; miserie indeed, if euer there were any ; full of 
wretchednes, fuller of disgrace, and fullest of guiltines. And as he 
came to the crowne by so vniust meanes, as vniustlie he kept it, by 
force of stranger souldiers in Cittadels, the nestes of tyranny, & 
murderers of libertie ; disarming all his own countrimen, that no 
man durst shew himself a wel- wilier of mine : to say the trueth 
(I think) few of them being so (considering my cruell follie to my 
good sonne, and foolish kindnes to my vnkinde bastard :) but if 
there were any who fell to pitie of so great a fall, and had yet any 
sparkes of vnstained duety lefte in them towardes me, yet durst 
they not shewe it, scarcely with giuing me almes at their doores ; 
which yet was the onelie sustenance of my distressed life, no bodie 
daring to shewe so much charitie, as to lende me a hande to guide 
my darke steppes : Till this sonne of mine (God knowes, woorthie 
of a more vertuous, and more fortunate father) forgetting my 
abhominable wrongs, not recking daunger, & neglecting the pres- 
ent good way he was in doing himselfe good, came hether to doo 
this kind office you see him performe towards me, to my vnspeak- 



APPENDIX A 193 



able griefe ; not onely because his kindnes is a glasse euen to my 
blind eyes, of my naughtines, but that aboue all griefes, it greeues 
me he should desperatly aduenture the losse of his soul-deseruing 
life for mine, that yet owe more to fortune for my deserts, as if he 
would cary mudde in a chest of christall. For well I know, he that 
now raigneth, how much soeuer (and with good reason) he des- 
piseth me, of all men despised ; yet he will not let slippe any ad- 
uantage to make away him, whose iust title (ennobled by courage 
and goodnes) may one day shake the seate of a neuer secure ty- 
rannic. And for this cause I craued of him to leade me to the toppe 
of this rocke, indeede I must confesse, with meaning to free him 
from so serpentine a companion as I am. But he finding what I 
purposed, onely therein since he was borne, shewed himselfe diso- 
bedient vnto me. And now Gentlemen, you haue the true storie, 
which I pray you publish to the world, that my mischieuous pro- 
ceedings may be the glorie of his filiall pietie, the onely reward now 
left for so great a merite. And if it may be, let me obtaine that of 
you, which my sonne denies me : for neuer was there more pity 
in sauing any, then in ending me ; both because therein my agonies 
shall ende, and so shall you preserue this excellent young man, 
who els wilfully folowes his owne ruine. 



APPENDIX B 

METRE 1 

1. Blank Verse 

The normal verse consists of ten syllables alternately stressed 
and unstressed, beginning with an unstressed syllable, without 
rhyme (hence called "blank verse"), and with a sense pause at the 
end of the line, e.g.: 

He raised' the house' with loud' and cow'ard cries' (ii. 4. 43). 
Return' to her,' and fifty men' dismiss'd'? (ii. 4. 210). 

As the line contains five feet, each of two syllables, and each 
stressed on the second syllable, it is commonly called an iambic 
pentameter. 

2. Normal Variations 

A succession of such lines, however, would be monotonous. 
Accordingly, there are several variations in the rhythm. 

(a) Stress Inversion. — The normal order of non-stress and 
stress may be inverted; e.g. in the various feet: 

(1) Why' have | my sisters husbands, if they say (i. 1. 101). 

(2) But love, I dear' love, | and our aged father's right (iv. 4. 28). 

(3) Which I must act: | briefness | and fortune, work ! (ii. 1. 20). 

(4) Let me beseech your grace | not' to | do so (ii. 2. 147). 

(5) Though I condemn not, yet, under | par'don (i. 4. 365). 

This inversion occurs commonly after a pause, and is thus found 
most frequently in the first, third, and fourth feet, i.e. after the 
pauses at the beginning or centre of the line. It is seldom found 
in the second foot, and it is very rare in the fifth foot. When it 
occurs in the fifth foot the effect is generally unrhythmical. 
There are occasionally two inversions in the same line, e.g.: 

(1, 4) Broth'er, | a word; descend: | broth'er, | I say! (ii. 1. 21). 
(1, 4) Bold' in | the quarrel's right, | roused' to | the encounter 

(ii. 1. 56). 

^ This appendix has been suggested largely by the "Outline of Shake- 
speare's Prosody" in Professor Herford's Richard II. 

194 



APPENDIX B 195 

(1, 3) None' does | offend, | none,' I | say, none; I '11 able 'em 

(iv. 6. 172). 

Two inversions rarely come together, as in i. 4. 365. 

(b) Stress Variation. — The stresses may vary in degree ; a 
iv^eak or intermediate stress C) may be substituted for a strong 
stress ( ). 

And dare, | upon' | the war | rant of | my note (iii. 1. 18). 

The weak stress is particularly common in the fifth foot, e.g.: 

Which else were shame, that then neces | sity' (i. 4. 232). 

There are, in fact, comparatively few lines with the normal five 
strong stresses. But there are certain limits to the variations: 
e.g. there are never more than two weak-stressed feet in a line, and 
two weak-stressed feet rarely come together (see, however, iii. 4. 
15). Frequently the absence of a strong stress in a foot is made up 
for by (1) two weak stresses, as : 

Prith'ee | go^ in | thyself ; seek thine own ease (iii. 4. 23) ; 

or (2) an additional stress in a neighboring foot, either before or 
after, as: 

Both' wel' I come and [ protection. Take up thy master 

(iii. 6. 99). 
The les | ser is^ | scarce' felt.' | Thou 'Idst shun a bear (iii. 4. 9). 

Two strong stresses are fairly common in the fifth foot, e.g.: 

Although I the last | not least, | to whose | young' love'. 

(Cf. i. 1. 148, iii. 2. 42, iv. 6. 187.) 

(c) Addition of Unstressed Syllables. — An unstressed syllable 
is frequently added. It may be introduced in any foot, which 
then corresponds to an anapaest instead of an iambus. 

(1) I am al | most mad myself : I had a son (iii. 4. 171). 

(2) And when | I have stol'n | upon these sons-in-law (iv. 6. 190), 

(3) Thou 'Idst meet the bear | i' the mouth. | When the mind 's 

free (iii. 4. 11). 

(4) Whereto our health is bound ; | we are not | ourselves 

(ii. 4. 108). 

(5) You sulphurous and thought-exe i cuting fires (iii. 2. 4). 

Occasionally there are two such extra syllables in the same line, 
e.g.: 

(2, 4) When maj I esty stoops ] to fol | ly. Reverse | thy doom 

(i. 1. 151). 



196 APPENDIX B 

But see 4 (6) (1) (2). These additional syllables within the line 
occur commonly at the pause or cob sura. 

Extra-metrical. — This additional unstressed syllable is most 
commonly found at the end of the line, where it is extra-metrical, 
e.g.: 

I tax not you, you elements, with unkind I ness ; 

I never gave you kingdom, call'd you chil | dren (iii. 2. 16-17). 

It forms what is known as a double or feminine ending. It is 
comparatively r^ire in Shakespeare's early plays, but it becomes 
more and more common, until in The Tempest it occurs once in 
every three lines. Of the 2238 lines of blank verse in King Lear, 
567 have double endings.^ 

Two extra unstressed syllables are occasionally found at the end 
of a line, e.g. : 

My heart into my mouth : I love your maj [ esty (i. 1. 94). 
That he suspects none : on whose foolish hon | esty (i. 2. 197). 

But no sharp division can be made between a line such as this and 
a six-stressed line or Alexandrine (3 (a)) ; and it is sometimes best 
to consider the first of the two extra syllables as slurred (4 (6) 

(1) (2)). 

Examples of these extra syllables are common in lines contain- 
ing proper names, e.g. : 

And you, our no less loving son of Al | bany (i. 1. 43). 

But most lines containing proper names contain an extra stressed 
syllable, e.g. i. 1. 46. Such lines are especially common in the 
English Histories. "They appear to be often on principle extra- 
metrical, and in any case comply very loosely with the metre." 
(d) Omission of Unstressed Syllables. — On the other hand, an 
unstressed syllable is sometimes, though rarely, omitted, e.g.: 

— Ay, I and lay | ing au | tumn's dust. | Good sir (iv. 6. 201). 
As may | compact | it more. | — Get | you gone (i. 4. 362). 

Such omissions generally occur after a marked pause, and hence 
(1) are found commonly, like stress inversion, in the first, third, 
and fourth feet; and (2) are frequently caused by a change of 
speaker, e.g.: 

Edg. Hark, do | you hear | the sea? 

Glou. — No' I truly (iv. 6. 4). 

1 See Fleay's Shakespeare Manual, p. 136. 



APPENDIX B 197 

(e) Pauses. — The normal verse has a sense pause at the end 
of the Hne, and a slighter pause (caesura) within it. These are 
clearly marked in early blank verse {e.g. Gorboduc), where the pause 
within the line falls commonly after the second foot. The varied 
position of this pause, and the omission of the pause at the end of 
the line, constitute, in Shakespeare's later plays, his commonest 
departure from the normal type. The lines in which the sense is, 
in Milton's words, "variously drawn out from one verse into an- 
other," are called run-on or unstopped lines ; while the non-coinci- 
dence of the full sense with the end of the line forms what is 
known as enjamhement or overflow. Like the double or feminine 
ending, the run-on line was gradually used more and more by 
Shakespeare. In Love's Labour s Lost, a typical early play, it 
occurs about once in every eighteen lines, while in The Tempest, 
Cymbeline, and The Winter s Tale it occurs on an average of twice 
in every five lines. 

(/) Light and Weak Endings. — The most pronounced form 
of the run-on line is that with a light or weak ending. Such end- 
ings have the distinctive quality of being monosyllabic. Thus : 

Let it fall rather, though the fork invade 
The region of my heart (i. 1. 146). 

is merely an instance of a run-on line. But there is a light ending 
in 

You have begot me, bred me, loved me ! I 
Return those duties (i. 1. 98-99). 
and in 

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 
To have a thankless child (i. 4. 310-311). 

The difference between light and weak endings is that "the voice 
can to a small extent dwell" on the former; while the latter so 
"precipitate the reader forward" that he is "forced to run them, 
in pronunciation no less than in sense, into the closest connec- 
tion with the opening words of the succeeding line." Hence light 
endings consist of the auxiliaries, personal pronouns, etc., and weak 
endings of prepositions, conjunctions, etc. They are characteristic 
of Shakespeare's later plays ; some of his earlier plays, e.g. the 
Comedy of Errors and the Two Gentlemen of Verona, do not contain 
a single instance of them. Of the two, the light ending was the 
earlier in use, and it is always the commoner; but its relative 
importance gradually diminished. Thus, in Macbeth, for 21 light 
endings there are only 2 weak endings, but in The Winter's Tale the 



198 APPENDIX B 

numbers are respectively 57 and 43.^ There does not appear to be 
any instance in King Lear of a weak ending ; the following example 
is taken from Henry VIII, iii. 2. 173 : 

To the good of your most sacred person and 
The profit of the state. 

It should be noted that the closing of a line with a preposition or 
other similar word is not alone sufficient to constitute a weak end- 
ing; e.g. iv. 7. 16. Lines closing in so followed by as {e.g. v. 3. 36) 
generally form light endings. 

3. Occasional Variations 

(a) Addition of Stressed Syllables. — Lines are occasionally found 
with six stressed syllables {i.e. with an additional foot), e.g. : 

To speak and purpose not : since what I well intend (i. 1. 228). 

The pause in the six-stressed line (commonly called an Alexan- 
drine) is found most frequently after the third foot. It occurs 
after the first in ii. 2. 153, and after the fourth in iv. 3. 44. It is 
generally very marked ; hence it often occurs when there is a change 
of speaker, e.g.: 

France. Could never plant in me. 

Cor. I yet beseech your majesty (i. 1. 226). 

(6) Omission of Stressed Syllables. — Lines with only four stressed 
syllables are much rarer. The omission of the stress likewise may 
generally be accounted for by a marked pause. Hence it also 
occurs most commonly at a break in the dialogue, e.g. : 

Lear. Come. 

Edm. Come hither, captain; hark (v. 3. 26). 

Indeed a marked pause is the source of most metrical irregularities. 
(c) Short or Broke?! Lines. — There are many short lines con- 
taining only one to four feet. They occur most frequently at the 
beginning or end of a speech; but there are several examples of 
them in King Lear in the middle of a speech, where they mark the 
completion or change of a subject or idea. These short lines, 
however, generally consist of questions, commands, exclamations, 
addresses, etc. : e.g. i. 4. 239, i. 1. 278, iv. 5. 36, i. 4. 284. Some of 

1 See Professor Ingram's paper in the Transactions of the New Shakspere 
Society, 1874, pt. ii. 



APPENDIX B 199 

the shorter lines may be regarded as extra-metrical. It will be 
noted that the short line is especially frequent in the more passion- 
ate speeches : e.g. i. 4. 299, ii. 4. 286, and iv. 6. 112-129. 

The broken speech ending is a characteristic of the later plays. 

4. Apparent Variations 

Many apparent irregularities are due to difference of pronuncia- 
tion in Shakespeare's time. 

(a) Accentual. — The accent has changed in many words : 
e.g. Shakespeare always has aspect (ii. 2. 112), impdrtune (iii. 4. 
166) and sepillchre — the verb — (ii. 4. 134). Retinue has the ac- 
cent on the second syllable in i. 4. 221, and observants has it on the 
first in ii. 2. 109 — the only occasions in Shakespeare in which 
these words occur in verse. Consort, as a noun in the sense of 
company, is accented on the last syllable (ii. 1. 99). 

Certain words had not a fixed pronunciation. It is often only 
by the position of the word in the verse that we can decide on 
which syllable the accent falls. Thus the noun sepulchre has usually 
the accent on the first syllable, but in Richard II, i. 3. 196, it is 
pronounced, like the verb, with the accent on the second syllable. 
Similarly revenue in i. 1. 139 and ii. 1. 102, but revenue in Richard II, 
i. 4. 46; Sxtreme (iv. 6. 26), but extremest (v. 3. 136). Note also 
sincere in ii. 2. 111. In general an adjective preceding a noun of 
one syllable, or a noun accented on the first syllable, is not accented 
on the last. A striking example of this accentual change is found 
in Henry VIII, v. i. 132 : 

Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt. 

The same change invariably takes place in such two-syllabled 
adjectives as complete, exact, obscure, extreme, sincere, etc.^ The 
pronunciation which now survives is generally that which repre- 
sents most closely the Latin quantity. The English accentuation 
of these Romance words tended in Shakespeare's time to make the 
stress fall on the first syllable ; but the influence of Latin has fre- 
quently in Modern English restored the accent to its original place. 

(6) Syllabic. — (1) A vowel may be lost before a consonant at 
thfe beginning of a word : e.g. 'scape, 'gainst, 'bove; and's for and 
his, 't for it, 's for his (i. 4. 114), for us (iii. 4. 110), and for is (iv. 6. 
163). Cf. this' for this is (iv. 6. 187). 

The same omission takes place within a word (syncope) : 

^ See Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon, vol. ii, Appendix. 



200 APPENDIX B 

a. In the inflexion, as in the past tense and past participle, in the 
second person singular, as meanst (ii. 2. 114), in the possessive, 
as Phwbus' (ii. 2. 114), and in the superlative {'st for est). These 
shortened forms become more and more common in Shakespeare. 

6. In the second last syllable of words of three syllables accented 
on the first : e.g. courtesi/ ^ (ii. 4. 182) and majesty (i. 1. 151), 
though ma-jes-ty (v. 3. 299). This contracted pronunciation has 
become fixed in such words as business, medicine. It is most 
commonly caused by a "vowel-like" (see (3) below). 

(2) Two vowels coming together may coalesce, whether in the 
same word or in adjacent words: e.g. influence (ii. 2. 113), radiant 
(ii. 2. 113), material (iv. 2. 35), violent (iv. 7. 28), immediacy {v. S. 
65), society (v. 3. 210), thfexpense (ii. 1. 102), theuntented (i. 4. 322). 
Royal and loyal are generally dissyllabic. 

There is no definite pronunciation of the terminations -ion, 
'■ions, -eous, etc. Thus we find conditi-on (iv. 7. 57), but benediction 
(iv. 7. 58), and gorge-ous (ii. 4. 271) but gorgeous (ii. 4. 272). The 
contracted pronunciation — that now in vogue — is the more 
common in Shakespeare's verse, though the dissyllabic pronuncia- 
tion was recognized throughout the seventeenth century. ^ 

(3) The liquids I, m, n, and r have the function of either a con- 
sonant or a vowel, and are therefore called "vowel-likes." 

a. By the consonant (non-syllabic) function they may cause 
the loss of a syllable, either immediately before or after : e.g. 
amorous (i. 1. 48), murderous (ii. 1. 64), stubborn (ii. 2. 134), pelican 
(iii. 4. 77), memories (iv. 7. 7), temperance (iv. 7. 24), victory (v. 1. 
41), countenance (v. 1. 63), prisoners (v. 3. 75), interest (v. 3. 85), 
privilege (v. 3. 129), absolute (v. 3. 300). Also in words of four 
syllables : e.g. unfortunate (iv. 6. 68), desperately (v. 3. 292), and 
particular (v. 1. 30), though partic-u-lars (i. 4. 286). 

b. By the vowel (syllabic) function they may form a new 
syllable : e.g. entrance, sometimes written enter ance, through, 
sometimes written thorough, hel-m (iv. 7. 36), but helm (iv. 2. 57), 
light-n-ing (iv. 7. 35), but light-ning (ii. 4. 167). 

The vowel-like r frequently resolves a preceding long vowel or 
diphthong into two syllables : e.g. such words as hour, hire, fire are 
sometimes dissyllabic. 

(4) Sometimes a consonant, usually th or v, coming between 
two vowels is omitted, the vowels coalescing; in these cases the 
second vowel is followed by r or n. Thus even (adv.) is generally 

1 The mark (.) under a vowel means that it is mute. 
* See Sweet's History of English Sounds, § 915. 



APPENDIX B 201 

a monosyllable ; so also ever, never, over, often written e'er, ne'er, o'er. 
The^^ is often omitted in whether (sometimes written where), rather, 
etc. 

5. Rhyme 

According to Mr. Fleay's calculation, there are seventy-four 
rhymed lines in King Lear. Shakespeare's use of rhyme gradually 
diminished, but he retained throughout his career the couplet at 
the end of a scene. There are several instances of it in King Lear, 
e.g. i. 2, iv. 7, v. 1, and v. 3. Rhyme also marks the close of a 
speech and the exit of an actor, e.g. i. 1. 257-264. In iv. 6. 284-285 
it is used to mark a change of subject. It has also the closely 
connected purpose of giving point to the expression (e.g. i. 1. 276- 
277, i. 4. 338-339) ; and hence it readily lends itself, by reason of 
this epigrammatic force, to clinching the argument and making an 
effective ending. The only rhymed passage of any length occurs 
at the end of iii. 6. It illustrates the use of rhyme in passages of 
moralizing or of "plaintive emotion." Rhyme is not used in pas- 
sages of passionate emotion, — the tendency is rather to pass into 
prose, — nor for narrative, nor for the development of the action 
of the drama. 



GLOSSARY 



advise (ii. 1. 29), reflect, con- 
sider ; used reflexively. Simi- 
larly advice = consideration, 
judgment. O.Fr. aviser, avis, 
Late Lat. ad-visum. Originally 
" the way in which a matter 
is looked at, opinion, judg- 
ment " (Murray). 

aidant (iv. 4. 17), helpful. O.Fr. 
aidant, pres. part, of aider. 

alarum' d (ii. 1. 55), aroused, 
called to arms. Alarum is an- 
other form of alarm. O.Fr. 
alarme, Italian allarme = alV 
arme! "To arms!" Thus 
originally an interjection, but 
used later as, a name for the 
summons to arms. The deriv- 
ative sense of " fright," which 
is confined to the form alarm, 
is not found in Shakespeare. 

allow (ii. 4. 194), approve of, 
sanction. O.Fr. alouer, repre- 
senting both Lat. allaudare, to 
praise, and allocare, to place, 
assign. Hence the two senses 
of " approving " and " grant- 
ing," which are so close as to 
blend. The former sense is 
more common in M.E. and 
E.E., the latter in Mod. E. 
Cf. allowance (i. 4. 228), ap- 
proval. 

an (i. 4. 112 ; ii. 2. 48, 106 ; ii. 4. 
65), if. Spelled and in the 
Qq and Fl, and generally in 
E.E. Its derivation is uncer- 
tain, but it is probably the 
same word as the coordinate. 

attaint (v. 3. 83), impeachment. 
O.Fr. ateinte, from p.p. of 
ateindre, " to attain," hence 
" to strike, condemn." Lat. 
attingere, " to touch upon." 



It is a distinct word from taint, 
" stain," which comes from 
Fr. teindre, Lat. tingere or 
tinguere. 

attend (ii. 1. 127 ; ii. 4. 36), await. 
O.Fr. atendre, L. ad -\- tendre. 
Primarily " to stretch to." 
Hence the meanings " to direct 
the mind to," " to look after," 
" wait upon," and " to wait 
for." 

avaunt (iii. 6. 68), begone! Fr. 
avant, forward! Lat. ah ante. 

bandy (i. 4. 92 ; ii. 4. 178). The 
origin is obscure. Fr. bander, 
to strike a ball to and fro, as 
in tennis ; perhaps from bande, 

benison"(i. 1. 269; iv. 6. 229), 
blessing. M.E. beneysun, 

O.Fr. beneison, Lat. benedic- 
tionem; hence a doublet of 
" benediction." 

boot (iv. 6. 230 ; v. 3. 301) . O.E. 
bot, advantage, good, profit ; 
related in derivation to " bet- 
ter," " best." It occurs com- 
monly in the phrase to boot, 
" to the good," " in addition," 
as in iv. 6. 230. The verb is 
represented in M.E. by boten. 

caitiff (iii. 2. 55), wretch. Norm. 
Fr. caitif, " captive," " miser- 
able," Lat. captivum. Its Nor- 
man origin is shown by the 
retention of the Latin c before 
a. French dialects generally 
represented this c by ch : cf. 
castle and Fr. chdteau, caitiff 
and Fr. chetif. There was an 
early English variant chaitif, 
which came from a central Fr. 



203 



204 



GLOSSARY 



form. The word is occasion- 
ally used in E.E. in the original 
sense, " captive." 

can (iv. 4. 8). O.E. cunnan, 
" The O. Teut. sense was ' to 
know, know how, be mentally 
or intellectually able,' whence 
' to be able generally, be physi- 
cally able, have the power ' " 
(Murray) . 

champains (i. 1. 65), or cham- 
paigns, plains. M.E. cham- 
payne, O.Fr, champaigne, Lat. 
Campania; ultimately from 
Lat. campus, a level field. The 
word was taken into English 
in the central French form 
champaigne, not in the Norman 
French form campaigne (Mur- 
ray) ; contrast caitiff. 

cockney (ii. 4. 123), a pampered, 
affected woman ; see note. 
M.E. cokeney, apparently coken, 
" of cocks " + ey, " egg " ; 
thus literally " cock's egg." 
The word was either a child's 
name for an egg, or a name for 
a small or misshapen egg. It 
was then applied as a humor- 
ous or derisive name for an 
unduly pampered child, a milk- 
sop. From this it was applied 
to a townsman, as being effemi- 
nate in comparison with a 
countryman . Finally it has got 
its modern special reference to 
a native of London (Murray). 

comforting (iii. 5. 21), aiding, 
assisting ; a common legal 
sense. O.Fr. conforter, Lat. 
confortare, to strengthen, con 
intensive -\- fortis, strong. In 
legal phraseology it is com- 
monly used along with the syn- 
onymous word " aiding," e.g. 
" aiding and comforting," 
" giving aid and comfort." 

commend (ii. 4. 28; iii. 1. 19), 
deliver, commit. Through 
O.Fr. from Lat. commendare, 
com -{- mandare, to commit to 
one's care. The secondary 
sense of " praising " arose from 
the idea that what is com- 
mitted is worthy of accept- 



ance. The sense of " com- 
mitting " survives in such 
phrases as " commend to 
memory " ; but it was much 
commoner in E.E. than the 
sense of " praising." 

compeers (v. 3. 69), equals, is a 
compeer with. O.Fr. comper, 
com -|- per, a peer (in Mod. Fr. 
pair), Lat. par em. 

conceit (iv. 6. 42), imagination, 
illusion. Probably formed 
from conceive on the analogy of 
deceit, deceive, there being 
apparently no corresponding 
O.Fr. word. It never occurs 
in Shakespeare in the modern 
sense of " high opinion of one- 
self." 

convey (i. 2. 109), carry out, do 
secretly. M.E. conveien, O.Fr. 
conveier, Late Lat. conviare, 
con -{■ via. Originally " to ac- 
company on the way," " to 
convoy " ; but used later of 
inanimate things = " to trans- 
port, carry," and especially 
with a sense of secrecy. Cf . i. 
4. 300. 

cozen'd (v. 3. 154), cheated, be- 
guiled. The derivation is un- 
certain. It has commonly 
been connected with Fr. cousi- 
ner, defined by Cotgrave, 1611, 
as "to clayme kindred for ad- 
vantage, or particular ends ; 
as he who, to save charges in 
travelling, goes from house to 
house as cosin to the honor of 
everyone." But there is no 
idea of " pretext of relation- 
ship " in cozen in E.E., in 
which the meaning is simply 
to " cheat." Cf. cozener, iv. 
6. 167. 

curious (i. 4. 35), complicated, 
intricate. O.Fr. curius, Lat. 
curiosus, full of care, scrupu- 
lous. Cf. curiosity, " scruples," 
i. 2. 4, " nicety of suspicion," 
i. 4. 75, and " careful investi- 
gation," i. 1. 6. 

darkling (i. 4. 207), in the dark. 
M.E. darkeling, dark + ling. 



GLOSSARY 



205 



an old adverbial formative. 
Cf . flatling or flatlong, headling 
or headlong, sidelong. 

debosh'd (i. 4. 237), an early 
variant of " debauched." 
Taken, about 1600, from Fr. 
debaucher, to draw away from 
duty ; hence to lead astray, 
corrupt. " Obsolete in Eng- 
lish before the middle of the 
seventeenth century ; retained 
longer in Scotch ; revived by 
Scott, and now frequent in 
literary English with some- 
what vaguer sense than de- 
bauched " (Murray). De- 
boshed is the only form in 
Shakespeare. 

deer (iii. 4. 144). Not used in 
its modern special sense, but 
applied to animals generally, 
usually to quadrupeds as dis- 
tinct from birds and fishes. 
O.E. deor. Not connected 
with Gr. e-qp, a wild beast. 

demand (iii. 2. 65; v. 3. 62), 
ask ; the commoner meaning 
of the word in Shakespeare. 
Cf. the substantive, i. 5. 3. 
Fr. demander, Lat. de + man- 
dare. 

digest (i. 1. 130), divide, dispose 
of. Lat. digerere, to carry 
asunder, divide, dis + gerere. 
Schmidt's explanation that it 
is used figuratively in the sense 
of " enjoy " is untenable. 

earnest (i. 4. 104), money paid 
beforehand as a pledge. The 
derivation is uncertain. Cf. 
O. Fr. erres, Mod. Fr. arrhes, 
from Lat. arrha. The Scottish 
form arles is apparently from 
the same root. 

engrafifed (i. 1. 301), engrafted. 
Graff was the original form, 
and was in common use in E.E. 
The current form graft prob- 
ably arose from the use of graft 
{graffed) as the p. part, of the 
old form. O.Fr. grafe, greffe 
(Mod. Fr. greffe), a slip of 
a tree, originally a pointed 
instrument. Late Lat. gra- 



phium, a writing style. Gr. 
ypd<f)ei.v, to Write. The Qq 
have the form ingrafted. 

enormous (ii. 2. 176), abnormal, 
monstrous. Lat, enormis, e + 
norma, pattern, rule. This is 
the only instance of the word 
in Shakespeare's plays. The 
usual sense now — " huge " — 
is derivative. 

entertain (iii. 6. 83), take into 
service ; a common meaning in 
E.E. Cf. Two Gentlemen of 
Verona, ii. 4. 110, " entertain 
him for your servant." Fr. 
entretenir, Lat. inter -{• tenere. 

esperance (iv. 1. 4), hope. O.Fr. 
esperance. Late Lat. sperantia, 
sperare, to hope. 

essay (i. 2. 47), trial, test. 
O.Fr. essai or assai, Lat. exa- 
gium, " weighing," hence " ex- 
amination," exigere, " to 
weigh, consider," ex + ago. 
The commoner form in Shake- 
speare is assay; essay occurs 
only here and in Sonnets, ex. 8. 
Cf. say. 

exhibition (i. 2. 25), allowance. 
O.Fr. exhibicion. Late Lat. ex- 
hibitionem, maintenance, exhi- 
bere, to maintain, support, in 
legal sense. (Cf. exhibitio et 
tegumentum = food and rai- 
ment.) Its original meaning 
was " maintenance, support " ; 
hence, as here, " allowance, 
pension." This sense survives 
only in its specialized use as a 
kind of scholarship given by an 
English college, etc. It has 
the sense of " present " in 
Othello, iv. 3. 75 : "I would 
not do such a thing for a joint- 
ring . . . nor any petty exhi- 
bition." The meaning " dis- 
play," etc., is comparatively 
late. 

favours (iii. 7. 40), features. 
M.E. favour. Nor. Fr. favor, 
Lat. favorem, kindliness. The 
meaning " face," " features," 
arose from the common trans- 
ition from the feeling or dis- 



GLOSSARY 



position to that which expresses 
it. The meaning " face " is 
more common than the special- 
ized meaning " features of the 
face"; but cf. 1 Henry IV, 
iii, 2. 136, " and stain my 
favours in a bloody mask." 
Cf. the colloquial use of the 
verb in the sense of "to re- 
semble." 

feature (iv. 2. 63), outward form, 
appearance. O.Fr. failure, 
Lat. factura, from facere, to 
make. In E.E. it preserved 
its original general sense of 
" make, form, shape." It is 
not used in Shakespeare in the 
specialized modern sense of the 
parts of the face. 

fell (v. 3. 24), strictly a hide, 
skin with the hair on ; but 
often used of the human skin, 
as in the phrase flesh and fell, 
which means the whole body. 
O.E. fel, cognate with Lat. 
pellis. 

flaws (ii. 4. 288), shivers, splin- 
ters ; akin to flake and flag 
(stone). Cf. flaw'd, broken, 
cracked (v. 3. 196). 

fond (i. 2. 51 ; i. 4. 323 ; iv. 7. 
60), foolish. ^ M.E. fanned, 
p.p. of fon, primarily " to lose 
savour," hence "to be foolish" ; 
probably the source of M.E. 
fon, " foolish," " a fool," as 
well as of the later word fun. 
From meaning " foolish, silly," 
it came to mean " foolishly 
tender," then " affectionate," 
the change arising from the as- 
sociation of warm feeling with 
mental weakness. The inverse 
process has taken place in the 
M.E. silly, which comes ulti- 
niately from O.E. s^l, " hap- 
piness." 

forf ended (v. 1. 11), forbidden. 
M.E. forfenden, ward off, /or + 
fenden, a shortened form of de- 
fenden, from Lat. defender e. 
As for is an English prefix — 
of similar force to the Latin 
prefix de — forfenden is thus a 
hybrid. 



fret (i. 4. 307), wear, eat away. 
O.E. strong verb fretan, con- 
sume, from O.Teut. /ra + etan, 
to eat. The verb is weak in 
E.E., but a strong p.p. sur- 
vives in fretten, the Quarto 
reading of The Merchant of 
Venice, iv. 1. 77. 

frontlet (i. 4. 208). See note. 
O.F. frontelet, dim. of frontel, 
ultimately from Lat. frons, the 
forehead. 

fumiter (iv. 4. 3), fumitory. 
O.Fr. fumeterre, Med. Lat. 
fumus terrae, " smoke of the 
earth " ; so called because " it 
springeth . . . out of the 
earth in great quantity." 
Hence " rank fumiter." 

gallow (iii. 2. 44), terrify. An 
obsolete form of gaily. O.E. 
agcelwan, to alarm. Cf. galli- 
crow, used in Wessex for 
" scarecrow." 

gasted (ii. 1. 57), frightened. 
O.E. gdestan. The verb gast 
is the same as the verb agast, 
of which the only part in use 
is the p.p. agast, now errone- 
ously spelled aghast. 

germens (iii. 2. 8), germs, the 
seeds of life. Lat. germen. 
Cf. Macbeth, iv. 1. 59, " though 
the treasure Of nature's ger- 
mens tumble all together." 

good-years (v. 3. 24). An in- 
definite name for an evil power 
or agency. The word was first 
used as a meaningless expletive, 
as in the phrase " What the 
good year!" But apparently 
from the equivalence of this 
phrase with " What the devil ! 
plague! " etc., it came to be 
used in imprecations and curses 
for an undefined evil power. 
The phrase " What the good- 
year," which was probably 
adopted from the Dutch wat 
goedjaar, occurs in The Merry 
Wives, i. 4. 129 (spelled good- 
jer). Much Ado, i. 3. 1, and 2 
Henry IV, ii. 4. 64 and 191. 
The present is the only in- 



GLOSSARY 



207 



stance in Shakespeare in which 
it is used in its secondary force. 
The word is commonly defined, 
since Sir Thomas Hanmer's 
edition of Shakespeare, 1744, 
as the name of a disease. It is 
said to be a corruption of the 
Fr. goujeres, a hypothetical 
derivative of gouje, a camp- 
follower. But this derivation 
and definition are erroneous 
(Bradley). 

help (iii. 7. 62). Of the strong 
inflexions of help, the normal 
M.E. past tense was halp; the 
pi. was holpen, later holp or 
holpe, which c. 1500 was ex- 
tended also to the sing., and 
continued in frequent use till 
the seventeenth century (Mur- 
ray). 

hurricanoes (iii. 2. 2), water- 
spouts. Span, huracan. The 
modern form hurricane was 
established only in the latter 
half of the seventeenth cen- 
tury. It is not found in 
Shakespeare. The form hurri- 
cano occurs also in Troilus and 
Cressida, v. 2. 172, where also 
it has the sense of water- 
spout. 

inheriting (ii. 2. 20), possessing. 
M.E. inheriten, enheriien, O.Fr. 
en-heriter, Lat. hereditare, to 
inherit. Often used in E.E. 
in the loose sense of " come 
into possession of." Cf. the 
Biblical phrase, " shall inherit 
the earth." 

interess'd (i. 1. 87), have an 
interest (or right) in. Interess 
(noun and verb) is the early 
form of interest, and is com- 
mon in E.E. From M.E. and 
Anglo-Fr. interesse (subst.), 
Lat. interesse, to concern, be of 
importance. 

intrinse (ii. 2. 81), intricate, in- 
volved. Perhaps an abbrevia- 
tion of intrinsicate; see An- 
tony and Cleopatra, v. 2. 307. 
Cf. reverbs, i. 1. 156. 



justicer (iii. 6. 23, 59). O.Fr. 
justicier, Late Lat. justitiarius ; 
thus identical in derivation 
with " justiciar " or " justi- 
ciary." It is used by Shake- 
speare in the sense of " justi- 
ciar " or " administrator of 
justice " ; but it has often the 
less specialized meaning of 
" one who maintains justice, 
upholds the right," as in iv. 2. 
79. In iii. 6. 23 the Ff and 
Qq read justice; Theobald's 
emendation justicer is sup- 
ported by line 59. 

knapped (ii. 4. 125), knocked, 
struck. Of onomatopoetic for- 
mation, the original meaning 
being "to strike with a hard, 
sharp sound." 

knave (i. 1. 21; i. 4. 46, 103), 
boy, servant. M.E. knaue, 
O.E. cnafa, cnapa, a boy. Cf. 
Ger. knabe. From meaning a 
male child, it came to mean a 
boy employed as a servant, in 
both of which senses it is used 
in King Lear. Shakespeare 
uses it also in its modern sense 
of " rascal," " villain." 

liege (i. 1. 36), sovereign. M.E. 
lige, lege, liege, O.Fr. lige, liege, 
O.H.G. ledic, free, unrestrained. 
Hence properly used, as in the 
title liege-lord, of the feudal 
suzerain. Skeat quotes from 
Barbour's Bruce, " Bot and I 
lif in lege pouste " = but if I 
survive in free and indisputed 
sovereignty. But by supposed 
connection with Lat. ligatus, 
ligare, to bind, the word was 
applied to the vassals of the 
liege-lord. Hence the modern 
use in the sense of citizens, as 
in the phrase " the safety of 
the lieges." 

mainly (iv. 7. 65), perfectly. 
Cf. main = chief, principal. 
O.Fr. maine, magne, great, Lat. 
magnus. Commonly in Shake- 
speare with the sense " forci- 
bly," " mightily." 



^08 



GLOSSARY 



marry (iii. 2. 40; iv. 2. 68), an 
exclamation derived from the 
oath " by the Virgin Mary.'' 

maugre (v. 3. 131), in spite of, 
O.Fr. maulgre (Mod. Fr. mal- 
gre), literally " ill will." Ulti- 
mately from Lat. malus, bad, 
and gratum, a pleasant thing. 

meiny (ii. 4. 35), household, 
M.E. meinee, mainee, a house- 
hold, O.Fr. maisnee, Low Lat. 
mansionata, a household, Lat. 
mansio, a dwelling. The word 
is spelled many in Spenser, 
Faerie Queene, v. 11. 3, 2. It 
is the source of menial. 

mere (iv. 1. 22), unalloyed, pure. 
O.Fr. mier, Lat. merus, un- 
mixed, especially of wine. 

mess (i. 1. 119), dish of food. 
O.Fr. mes, a dish, literally that 
which is placed on the table ; 
Low Lat. missum, miftere, to 
place ; Lat. mittere, to send. 
Cf. Mod. Fr. mets. 

minikin (iii. 6. 45), dainty, 
pretty. Cf. Dutch minnekyn, 
a cupid, darling, a diminutive 
of minne, love, cognate with 
O.H.G. minna, love. Allied to 
minion and Fr. mignon. 

miscreant (i. 1. 163), wretch. 
Originally an " unbeliever," 
and perhaps used here in this 
sense. O.Fr. mescreant, Lat. 
minus + credentem. Cf. rec- 
reant, below. 

modest (ii. 4. 25 ; iv. 7. 5), mod- 
erate. Fr. modeste, Lat. mo- 
destus, moderate, measurable, 
from m,odus, a measure. 
Shakespeare uses the word 
both in this original sense and 
in its derivative and currerrt 
sense, " decent " or " diffi- 
dent." 

moiety (i, 1. 7), part, portion: 
strictly a half. Anglo-Fr. 
moyte (Mod. Fr. moitie), a half, 
Lat. medietatem, from medius, 
middle. Shakespeare uses it 
in both senses, " half " and 
" part." 

motley (i. 4. 160), M.E. motte- 
lee, O.Fr. mattele, " curdled." 



Hence " spotted," " varie- 
gated." Strictly an adjective, 
but used by Shakespeare as a 
substantive : (1) as the dress 
of the Fool, as here ; and (2) as 
the Fool himself, e.g. " And 
made myself a motley to the 
view," Sonnets, ex. 2. 

naughty (iii. 4. 116; iii. 7. 36), 
bad, wicked, as frequently in 
E.E. M.'E. naught, O.'E.nawhit, 
na, no -|- whit, thing ; hence 
" worthless," " good for noth- 
ing," " wicked." The sense 
" mischievous " is modern. 
Cf. naught = wicked, ii. 4. 136. 

nicely (ii. 2. 110; v. 3. 144), 
punctiliously, with nicety. 
O.Fr. nice, simple, Lat. nes- 
cius, ignorant. The original 
meaning in English was " fool- 
ish," as in Chaucer; but in 
E.E. it had acquired the mean- 
ing of " fastidious " as applied 
to persons, and " petty," 
" trifling " as applied to things. 
" The remarkable changes in 
sense may have been due to 
confusion with E. nesh, which 
sometimes meant ' delicate ' 
as well as ' soft ' " (Skeat). 
Shakespeare does not use the 
word in the modern sense 
" pleasant." 

oeillades (iv. 5. 25), glances, 
amorous or inviting. The Qq 
read aliads, the Ff eliads (1st) 
and iliads (2d, 3d, and 4th). 
" It cannot be decided whether 
Shakespeare wrote the French 
word or some anglicized form 
of it." The word occurs also 
in Merry Wives, i. 3. 68. 

offend (i. 1. 310), hurt, harm. 
M.E. offenden, Fr. offendre, 
Lat. offendere, to strike or dash 
against. Offend is strictly the 
opposite of defend, this sense 
surviving in the phrase " on 
the offensive," etc. The 
strong sense of " hurt," 
" harm "is comparatively rare 
in Shakespeare, who uses the 



GLOSSARY 



209 



word chiefly in its modern sig- 
nification ; but cf . 2 Henry I V, 
ii. 4, 126, " She is pistol-proof, 
sir ; you shall hardly offend 
her." 

or ere (ii. 4. 289), before. The 
two words are identical in 
meaning, both being derived 
from the O.E. ar, before. 
But it is probable that ere was 
considered a contraction for 
ever = e'er. Shakespeare has 
both forms, or ere and or ever 
(Hamlet, i. 2. 183). 

owes (i. 1. 205), possesses; 
owest (i. 4. 133). M.E. owen, 
awen, O.E. agan, ah, " possess." 
The current sense of " obliga- 
tion " arises from the idea of 
possessing what belongs to an- 
other. The word is used in 
this modern sense in iii. 4. 
108. 

pelting (ii. 3. 18), paltry — 
which has partly the same 
source. The Northern word 
paltrie or peltrie, a substantive 
meaning " trash," was prob- 
ably the source of E.E. paul- 
tring, peltering, " petty," and 
pelter, " a mean person." By 
association with these, pelt, 
" skin," acquired the sugges- 
tion of " trash," and from it 
appears to have been formed, 
during the sixteenth century, 
the word pelting, on the anal- 
ogy of peltrie, peltering (Her- 
ford). Note the modern pelt- 
ing, a distinct word, in iii. 4. 
29. 

perdu (iv. 7. 35). Not from Fr. 
enfant perdu, a soldier of a for- 
lorn hope, but from sentinelle 
perdue, a sentry placed in a 
very advanced and dangerous 
position. Thus "to watch — 
poor perdu ! " 

perdy (ii. 4. 86), an exclamation. 
From Fr. par Dieu. 

plaited (i. 1. 283), folded. M.E. 
plaiten, O.Fr. pleit, plet, a fold 
(Mod. Fr. pli) ; Lat. plicatus, 
plicare, to fold. The Qq read 



pleated, the Ff plighted, which 
are both doublets of plaited. 
The form plight, which is found 
in Spenser, — e.g. " with many 
a folded plight," Faerie Queene, 
ii. 3. 26, 5, — conies from M.E. 
pliten, the gh being an intru- 
sion. It is quite distinct from 
plight (i. 1. 103), pledge, which 
comes from O.E. pliht, risk, 
danger, cognate with Ger. 
pflicht, duty. 

pother (iii. 2. 50), turmoil. 
From the same source as potter 
and poke; not connected with 
' ' bother. ' ' The Ff read pudder, 
another form of the same word. 

power (iii. 1. 30; iv. 2. 16; iv. 
5. 1 ; V. 1. 51), army : a com- 
mon meaning in E.E. M.E. 
pouer, O.Fr. povoir. Late Lat. 
potere = posse, to be able. 
Thus derivatively a substanti- 
val use of the infinitive mood. 
Cf. Fr. pouvoir. 

presently (i. 4. 159; ii. 4. 34, 
118), immediately, at once; 
the usual sense in E.E. 

puissant (v. 3. 216), strong, great. 
F. puissant. Low Lat. possens, 
a pres. part, due to confusion 
between the correct form 
potens and the inf. posse. A 
doublet of potent. 

quit (iii. 7. 87), requite. M.E. 
quiten, O.Fr. quiter, Lat. quie- 
tare, to set at rest. Quit is de- 
rivatively a shorter form of 
quiet. 

recreant (i. 1. 169), coward. 
Strictly, one who has changed 
his faith. O.Fr. recreant, Lat. 
re + credentem. Cf . miscreant 
above. 

renege (ii. 2. 84), deny. M.E. 
reneye, Low Lat. renegare, 
whence " renegade," etc. The 
g is pronounced hard. The 
spelling of the Qq is reneag. 

reverbs (i. 1. 156), reverberates. 
Perhaps " a coined word, by 
contraction " (Skeat). Cf. m- 
trinse, ii. 2. 81. 



210 



GLOSSARY 



saw (ii. 2. 167), saying, proverb. 
M.E. sawe, sa'Se, O.E. sagu, a 
saying, allied to secgan, to say. 
Cf. As You Like It, ii. 7. 156, 
" Full of wise saws." 

say (v. 3. 143), proof, taste; a 
common aphetic form of assay 
or essay (q.v.). Cf. the verbal 
use in Pericles, i. 1. 59-60, 
" Of all say'd yet, mayst thou 
prove prosperous. Of all say'd 
yet, I wish thee happiness ! " 

sennet (i. 1, stage direction), a 
set of notes on a trumpet an- 
nouncing the entry or exit of 
a procession. The word does 
not appear in the text of 
Shakespeare. The forms syn- 
net, sonnet, cynet, and signet 
also occur. 

several (i. 1. 45), respective, as 
commonly in E.E. O.Fr. 
several. Low Lat. separale; a 
doublet of " separate." 

sith (i. 1. 183; ii. 4. 242), since. 
M.E. sithen. O.E. si^tJan, 
from sid Sam, after that. A 
doublet of since, which is from 
M.E. sithens, i.e. sithen + the 
adverbial termination -s or -es, 
as in whiles. Note that sith 
usually has the sense of " as," 
" seeing that," though it has 
a temporal force in Hamlet, ii. 
2. 12. 

sizes (ii. 4. 178), allowances. 
Short for assize, a fixed quan- 
tity. M.E. assise, O.Fr. assis, 
" an assembly of judges," " a 
sitting," " an impost," " quan- 
tity adjudged," ultimately 
from Lat. sedere, to sit. Hence 
the Cambridge term sizar, a 
scholar to whom certain " al- 
lowances " are made. 

spill (iii. 2. 8), destroy. M.E. 
spillen, O.E. spillan, spildan, 
to destroy. Cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 
20: 

So full of artless jealousy is guilt, 
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 

stelled (iii. 7. 61), starry, stel- 
late. Lat. stellatus, stella, a 
star. Schmidt and Craig take 



it to mean " fixed " ; cf. Son' 
nets, xxiv. 1, " Mine eye hath 
played the painter and hath 
stell'd Thy beauty's form," 
and Lucrece, 1444, " To find a 
face where all distress is 
stell'd." 
suggestion (ii. 1, 75), underhand 
action, the usual meaning of 
the word in Shakespeare. Cf. 
suggest, to prompt, incite 
criminally. M.E. suggesten, 
from p.p. of Lat. suggerere, 
literally " to carry or lay 
under," suh -f gerere. Sug- 
gest and suggestion are com- 
monly used in a bad sense in 
E.E. 

tell (ii. 4. 55), count. M.E. 
tellen, O.E. tellan, to count, 
narrate. 

tithing (iii. 4. 140), district. 
Originally a district containing 
ten families. O.E. ted^a, a 
tenth. 

treachers (i. 2. 133), traitors. 
M.E. trecchour, trychor, O.Fr. 
trecher, to cheat ; ultimately 
of Teutonic origin ; cognate 
with trick. This is the only 
instance of the word in Shake- 
speare, but it was common in 
E.E. 

trowest (i. 4. 135), believest. 
M.E. trowen, O.E. tredwian, to 
have trust in, tredwa, trust. 

tucket (ii. 1, stage direction), a 
flourish on a trumpet or cornet. 
Cf . Henry V, iv. 2. 35 : 

Then let the trumpets sound 
The tucket sonance and the note 
to mount. 

It. toccata, from loccare, to touch. 

vaunt-couriers (iii. 2. 5), fore- 
runners. Fr. avant-coureur 
(see avaunt). Cf. the contrac- 
tion in van, vanguard (Fr. 
avant-garde) . 

villain (iii. 7. 87 ; iv. 6. 257), serv- 
ant. O.Fr. vilein, Low Lat. 
villanus, a farm-servant ; villa, 



GLOSSARY 



211 



a farmhouse. The word has 
here its original sense, but the 
current degraded sense 
" scoundrel " is the more 
common in Shakespeare (e.g. 
1. 2. 180). 

whiles (ii. 3. 5 ; iv. 2. 58), strictly 
the genitive of while, time, used 



adverbially. Cf. twice, from 
twi-es. This old genitive sur- 
vives in whilst. 
worships (i. 4. 288), dignities, 
credit. M.E. worschip, wur'd- 
scipe, O.E. weor^scipe, wyrd- 
scipe, honor ; a contraction of 
worthship, the th being lost in 
the fourteenth century. 



INDEX OF WORDS 



(The references are to the Notes ad loc. 
found in the Glossary.) 



Other words will be 



action-taking, ii. 2. 18. 
additions, i. 1. 138 ; v. 3. 68. 
admiration, i. 4. 258. 
affected, i. 1. 1. 
ancient of war, v. 1. 32. 
approve, i. 1. 187. 
argument, i. 1. 218. 
at point, i. 4. 347. 

ballow, iv. 6. 247. 

battles, iii. 2. 23. 

Bedlam beggars, ii. 3, init. 

bewray, ii. 1. 109; iii. 6. 118. 

blank, i. 1. 161. 

holds, V. 1. 26. 

bond, i. 1. 95. 

bourn, iii. 6. 27 ; iv. 6. 57. 

briefness, ii. 1. 20. 

carbonado, ii. 2. 41. 
censure, iii. 5. 3; v. 3. 3. 
century, iv. 4. 6. 
clotpoll, i. 4. 51. 
clout, iv. 6. 92. 
colour, ii. 2. 145. 
comfortable, i. 4. 328. 
consort, ii. 1. 99. 
converse, i. 4. 16. 
convey, i. 2. 109. 
costard, iv. 6. 247. 
court holy-water, iii. 2. 10. 
cowish, iv. 2. 12. 
coxcomb, i. 4. 109. 
curst, ii. 1. 67. 

dear, i. 4. 294. 
defuse, i. 4. 2. 



depend, i. 4. 271. 
derogate, i. 4. 302. 
descent, v. 3. 137. 
diffidences, i. 2. 161. 
diseases, i. 1. 177. 
disnatured, i. 4. 305. 
Dolphin, iii. 4. 104. 

ear-kissing, ii. 1. 9. 
effects, i. 1. 133. 
elf, ii. 3. 10. 
engine, i. 4. 290. 
epicurism, i. 4. 265. 
equalities, i. 1. 5. 
event, the, i. 4. 371. 

faint, i. 4. 73. 

fetches, ii. 4. 90. 

fire-new, v. 3. 132. 

first of difference, your, v. 3. 288. 

flesh, ii. 2. 49. 

fleshment of, in the, ii. 2. 130. 

Flibbertigibbet, iii. 4. 120. 

foins, iv. 6. 251. 

foppery, i. 2. 128. 

foppish, i. 4. 182. 

fordid, V. 3. 255. 

fork, the, i. 1. 146. 

Frateretto, iii. 6. 7. 

frontlet, i. 4. 208. 

gad, upon the, i. 2. 26, 
generation, i. 1. 119. 
generous, i. 2. 8. 
goest, i. 4. 134. 
graced, i. 4. 267. 
grossly, i. 1. 295. 
213 



214 



INDEX OF WORDS 



handy-dandy, iv. 6. 156-157. 
Hecate, i. 1. 112. 
home, iii. 3. 13. 
Hopdance, iii. 6. 32. 
Hysterica passio, ii. 4. 57. 

immediacy, v. 3. 65. 
incense, ii. 4. 309. 
ingenious, iv. 6. 287. 

Jug, i. 4. 245. 

kibes, i. 5. 9. 

Lady the brach, i. 4. 125. 

lag of, i. 2. 6. 

lances, v. 3. 50. 

like, i. 1. 203 ; i. 1. 304 ; iv. 2. 19. 

loathly, ii. 1. 51. 

main, iii. 1. 6. 
milk, i. 1. 86. 
monsters it, i. 1. 223. 
mother, ii. 4. 56. 

names my very deed of love, i. 1. 

73. 
nether, iv. 2. 79. 
notion, i. 4. 248. 
nuncle, i. 4. 117. 
nursery, i. 1. 126. 

Obidicut, iv. 1. 62. 

observants, ii. 2. 109. 

office, ii. 4. 107. 

old, iii. 4. 125. 

on 's, i. 4. 114; i. 5. 20. 

on 't, i. 4. 168. 

out, i. 1. 33. 

owes, i. 1. 205. 

owest, i. 4. 133. 

packings, iii. 1. 26. 
packs, V. 3. 18. 
pelican daughters, iii. 4. 77. 
pight, ii. 1. 67. 
Pillicock, iii. 4. 78. 
poise, ii. 1. 122. 



practices, i. 2. 198; ii. 1. 75, 109; 

V. 3. 151. 
practised, iii. 2. 57. 
prefer, i. 1. 277. 
pretence, i. 2. 95 ; i. 4. 75. 
proper, i. 1, 18. 
property, i. 1. 116. 
Pur ! iii. 6. 47. 
put on, i. 4. 227. 

queasy, ii. 1. 19. 

questrists, iii. 7. 17. 

regards, i. 1. 242. 
resolve, ii. 4. 25. 
ripeness, v. 2. 11. 
roundest, i. 4. 58. 
rubb'd, ii. 2. 161. 

sallets, iii. 4. 138. 

sectary astronomical, i. 2. 164- 

165. 
set, i. 4. 136. 
set my rest, to, i. 1. 125. 
shealed, i. 4. 219. 
showest, i. 4. 131. 
sliver, iv. 2. 34. 
snuffs, iii. 1. 26. 
some year, i. 1. 20. 
soothe, iii. 4. 182. 
sop o' the moonshine, ii. 2. 34-35. 
spherical predominance, i. 2. 133- 

134. 
square of sense, i. 1. 76. 
squiny, iv. 6. 140. 
subscribed, i. 2. 24. 
subscription, iii. 2. 18. 
succeed, i. 2. 157. 
success, V. 3. 194. 
sumpter, ii. 4. 219. 
superserviceable, ii. 2. 19 

taking, ii. 4. 166. 
tender, i. 4. 230. 
terrible, i. 2. 32. 
thought-executing, iii. 2. 4. 
three-suited, ii. 2. 16-17. 
thwart, i. 4. 305. 



INDEX OF WORDS 



215 



toad-spotted, v. 3. 138. 
toward, ii. 1. 11 ; iii. 3. 20. 
trowest, i. 4. 135. 
Turlygod, ii. 3. 20. 

unbolted, ii. 2. 71. 
unpossessing, ii. 1. 69. 
unprized, i. 1. 262. 
untented, i. 4. 322. 
upon his party, ii. 1. 28. 
upon respect, ii. 4. 24. 



validity, i. 1. 83. 
virtue, v. 3. 103. 

wash'd eyes, with, i. 1. 271. 

waterish, i. 1. 261. 

web and the pin, the, iii. 

122. 
where, i. 2. 89. 
wield the matter, i. 1. 56. 

young bones, ii. 4. 165. 



GENERAL INDEX 



Abbott, Shalcespearian Grammar, 

i. 1. 213; i. 2. 93; i. 4. 26, 

114,236,255, 271; i. 5. 36; ii. 

1. 77; iii. 1. 23-24; iii. 2. 13. 
abstract used for concrete, iv. 7. 

7. 
adjective, adverbial use of the, 

i. 4. 360 ; iv. 6. 3. 
adjective, substantival use of, ii. 

1. 61 ; iii. 7. Q5. 
iEsop's Fables, allusion to, i. 4. 

176-177. 
antecedent, omission of the, ii. 1. 

125. 
as, omission of, i. 1. 213. 
auxiliary, omission of the, ii. 1. 

77 ; iv. 2. 2. 

be in E.E., uses of, i. 5. 36. 
Bedlam beggars, ii. 3. init. 

Capell, i. 4. 18. 

Chapman, i. 1. 119. 

Coleridge, i. 1. 109, 110, 175; 

i. 5. 50; ii. 1. 69, 103; ii. 4. 

267; iii. 4. init. 
comparative and superlative, 

double, i. 1. 80. 
constructions, confusion of, iv. 

6. 33-34. 
contractions, euphonic, i. 4. 114. 
Craig, W. J., i. 1. 119; i. 2. 161- 

162; i. 4. 283. 

Declaration of Popish Impostures, 
Harsnet's, ii. 4. 54-55 ; iii. 4. 
54-55, 120; iii. 6. 32. 

Dekker's Bell-man of London, ii. 
3. init. 



-ed in past participles, i. 1. 262. 
ellipsis, examples of, i. 1. 213. 
ethic dative, example of, i. 2. 106, 
Ex nihilo nihil fit, i. 1. 92. 

fish on Fridays, i. 4. 18. 
Fm-ness, iii. 2. 27-34. 

gerundial infinitive, ii. 4. 112. 
Guillim's Heraldri/, ii. 1. 87. 
Gunpowder Plot, i. 2. 111-127. 

Hanmer, ii. 2. 168-169. 
Harvey's (Gabriel), Pierce's 

Supererogation, ii. 2. 34-35. 
Hazlitt, i. 1. 147, 279; iii. 4. 72; 

iii. 6. 65. 
hendiadys, examples of, i. 2. 48, 

191-192; i. 4. 364. 
here, substantival use of, i. 1. 264. 
Herford, i. 5. 25 ; iii. 4. 126. 
Horace's Odes, iii. 6. 85. 

Johnson, i. 1. 201; i. 2. 113-114; 

i. 4. 181-184; i. 5. 43; ii. 2. 

19; ii. 2. 168-169; iv. 6. 11- 

24. 
Jonson's, Ben, English Grammar, 

ii. 2. 69-70 ; Bartholomeiv Fair, 

iii. 4. 103; Silent Woman, ii. 

2. 16-17. 

Kellner, i. 1. 275; ii. 2. 107; iii. 
2. 13; iii. 7. 65. 

Lipsbury pinfold, ii. 2. 9. 

liver, as the seat of courage, ii. 2. 

18. 
Lyly's Euphues, ii. 2. 168-169. 



217 



218 



GENERAL INDEX 



Malone, i. 4. 369; iii. 4. 54-55; 

iv. 3. 21. 
Middleton's Phoenix, ii. 2. 16-17. 

neuter possessive, forms of the, 
i. 4. 236 ; iv. 2. 32. 

one superlative form applying to 
two superlatives, i. 4, 285. 

other, forms of the plural of, i. 4. 
221. 

past participles, with active 

sense, i. 1. 275; iv. 6. 10; 

suffix -ed in, i. 1. 262. 
preposition, omission of, i. 1. 

163 ; i. 3. 1 ; ii. 1. 41 ; ii. 2. 88. 
Proverbs of John Hey wood, ii. 2. 

168-169. 
puns, ii. 1. 121 ; ii. 4. 7, 11, 52. 
Purchas's Pilgrimes, i. 1. 119. 

Rabelais, Gargantua and Pan- 

tagruel, iii. 6. 7-8. 
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, i. 4. 236. 

Schmidt, Shakespearian Lexicon, 
^ ii. 2. 19. 

singular verb, preceding a plural 
subject, i. 1. 191 ; following a 
pronoun with a plural ante- 
cedent, i. 1. 193-194 ; follow- 
ing two nouns, ii. 1. 115. 

Sir Bevis of Hamptoun, iii. 4. 
144-145. 

some, with force of indefinite 
article, ii. 2. 101. 



Sophocles' (Edipus Coloneus, iii. 

2. 60. 

Steevens, i. 4. 191-192, 245; 

i. 5. 43; V. 3. 72. 
stomach the seat of anger, v. 3. 74. 
superlatives, one superlative form 

with two, i. 4. 285. 

textual notes, i. 1. 41-46, 80, 85, 
151; i. 2. 21, 119-124, 157- 
166, 161-162, 181-187; i. 3. 
20; i. 4. 154-169, 345-356, 
366; ii. 1. 54; ii. 2. 148-152, 
175-177; ii. 4. 45-53, 142- 
147; iii. 1. 7-15, 22-29, 30- 
42; iii. 2. 54, 80-95; iii. 4. 
125 ; iii. 6. 13-15, 57, 104-108, 
109-122; iii. 7. 18, 32, 63, 
65, 99-107; iv. 1. 6-9; iv. 2, 
28, 31-50, 62-69; iv. 3. init, 
21; iv. 4. 4; iv. 6. 15, 169- 
174, 256; iv. 7. 85-97; v. 

3. 160, 204-221, 323-326. 
Toilet, ii. 2. 71. 
transposition, form of, i. 1. 97. 

Warburton, i. 4. 18, 167; iv. 3. 21. 
where, substantival use of, i. 1. 

264. 
Wright, i. 1. 282; i. 2. 111- 

127; ii. 2. 19. 

ye for you, the use of, i. 2. 185; 

i. 4. 324 ; ii. 2. 50. 
you were best, i. 4. 111. 

Z, the letter, ii. 2. 69-70. 




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~3. 



